Rubik's Cube notation: how to read the moves
Algorithms are written as a string of letters such as R U R' U'. Once you know what each letter and ending means, you can read any algorithm in a guide, on a cheat sheet or in this app's move list. This page explains the standard notation step by step.
The six face letters
Every face of the cube has one letter. U is the up face, D is down, L is left, R is right, F is front and B is back. The letter names the face you turn, not a direction in the room. If you turn the whole cube, the faces change their names with it, so always decide which side is the front before you start.
A letter on its own means a quarter turn clockwise when you look directly at that face. This is the one rule people get wrong most often: clockwise is always judged from the face itself. For R that means looking at the right side, and for L it means looking at the left side, so the two turns move the pieces in opposite directions when seen from the front.
The apostrophe and the number 2
An apostrophe after a letter, as in R', is read as prime and means a quarter turn counterclockwise. A 2 after a letter, as in R2, means a half turn. It makes no difference which way a half turn goes, because the result is the same.
So R is a quarter turn one way, R' is a quarter turn the other way and R2 is a half turn. The same three forms exist for U, D, L, F and B, which gives eighteen basic moves on a 3x3.
Wide turns, slices and whole-cube rotations
A face letter followed by a lowercase w, as in Rw, is a wide turn: it turns the outer face together with the layer next to it. Some older sheets write the same move as a lowercase letter, such as r. On a 4x4 and bigger cubes there are inner layers too, and a number in front of a letter, such as 2R, points to the second layer from that face.
The slice letters M, E and S turn the middle layer between two faces of a 3x3. M follows the direction of L, E follows D and S follows F. The letters x, y and z turn the whole cube. x follows the direction of R, y follows U and z follows F. A whole-cube rotation changes which face is the front but does not change the cube itself.
How to read a whole algorithm
Read from left to right and do one move at a time. For example, R U R' U' is: turn the right face clockwise, turn the top face clockwise, turn the right face counterclockwise, turn the top face counterclockwise. That four-move group is used again and again in the beginner method, where it is called the trigger.
A sequence can be repeated. If a guide says to repeat R U R' U' three times, you do the four moves, then the same four moves two more times, twelve moves in all. Sequences in brackets or with a small number after them follow the same idea: do the group that many times.
Practice with the 3D cube
A simple way to learn is to see the move happen. Open the 3x3 solver, press Solve and step through the moves one at a time. Each move is shown as letters, and the 3D cube turns the matching face so you can check your reading against what you see.
Hold the same side toward you for every step, and use the Play, step back and replay buttons until a letter and its turn feel like one thing. On a 3x3 you can also tick Teach me before pressing Solve. The beginner-method solution repeats the same short groups of moves, such as R U R' U', which gives you a lot of reading practice.
Step by step
- Learn the six face letters Memorize U, D, L, R, F and B for the up, down, left, right, front and back faces.
- Turn clockwise for a plain letter A letter on its own is a quarter turn clockwise when you look straight at that face.
- Turn the other way for an apostrophe A letter with an apostrophe, such as R', is a quarter turn counterclockwise.
- Half turn for a 2 A letter followed by 2, such as R2, is a half turn in either direction.
- Recognize wide turns, slices and rotations Rw turns two layers together, M, E and S turn a middle slice, and x, y and z turn the whole cube.
- Read left to right Do the moves of an algorithm in order, one at a time, and repeat a group as many times as the guide says.
- Check yourself on the 3D cube Step through a solution in the solver and compare each letter with the turn you see on the 3D cube.