How to solve a 3x3 Rubik's Cube: a beginner guide
A 3x3 Rubik's Cube looks impossible at first, but it can be solved by anyone who learns a short list of moves and works one layer at a time. This guide explains the idea, the notation and seven steps, in plain English, with no need to memorize a long list of algorithms on day one.
How big is the puzzle?
A standard 3x3 cube has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 reachable arrangements, about 43 quintillion. That number is why random twisting almost never works. The good news is that you do not need to search through all of them. A method breaks the puzzle into small jobs, and each job only needs a few moves.
It has also been proven that every arrangement can be solved in 20 moves or fewer when a half turn counts as one move. If each half turn is counted as two quarter turns, the limit is 26. Those are the shortest possible solutions, found by computers. A person who learns a beginner method will use far more moves, and that is fine.
Learn the move letters first
Each face has a letter: U for up, D for down, L for left, R for right, F for front and B for back. A letter on its own means turn that face a quarter turn clockwise, as if you were looking straight at it. A letter followed by an apostrophe, such as R', means a quarter turn the other way. A letter followed by 2, such as R2, means a half turn.
The guide on cube notation explains the letters in more detail, including wide turns and whole-cube rotations. For this guide the six face letters and the two endings are all you need.
The idea behind the layer method
The beginner method solves the cube in three layers: the bottom layer, the middle layer and the top layer. Each step keeps everything you have already solved. Some steps use a short sequence of moves that disturbs the cube on purpose and then puts the finished part back, so do not worry if the cube looks worse in the middle of a sequence.
This app builds the first layer on the bottom face and finishes on the top face, so you never have to turn the whole cube over. Hold the cube with the same side facing you throughout and follow the moves in order.
Use the solver as a tutor
Paint the colors of your cube into the 3x3 solver, or scan the cube with your camera, then tick Teach me before you press Solve. Teach me solves the cube one layer at a time with the method described here and names every step. The solution is much longer than the normal one, about 175 moves on a 3x3 compared with about 20, but it is easier to learn from and to follow by hand.
Each step comes with a short explanation of what it does and why it is needed. Play the moves one at a time, watch the 3D cube, and then try the same step on your real cube.
Practice tips
Go slowly and finish one step completely before you start the next. If a sequence goes wrong, stop and compare your cube with the 3D preview. Repeating a short sequence many times helps it stick, so solve the same scramble a few times before you try a new one.
Step by step
- Build the cross on the bottom face Pick one color for the bottom and bring its four edge pieces into a plus shape. Each edge must also match the center of the side it touches.
- Place the four bottom corners Lift each bottom corner into the top layer above its slot, then repeat the four moves R U R' U' until it drops in. That takes 1, 3 or 5 repeats depending on how the corner is turned.
- Place the four middle-layer edges Bring an edge to the front of the top layer, line it up with its center color, then send it down to the right or to the left with a short sequence. Two full layers are now finished.
- Make the cross on the top face Repeat the sequence F R U R' U' F' until the top edges go from a dot to an L to a line to a cross. The first two layers end up exactly as they were.
- Put the top edges in place Turn the top layer until two edges match their centers, then use a sequence that swaps two neighbouring top edges. Repeat if needed until all four edges match.
- Put the top corners in place Find a top corner that already sits between its own three colors and use a sequence that cycles the other three corners around it. Repeat until all four corners are in the right places, even if they are twisted.
- Twist the top corners Hold the unsolved corner at the front right and repeat R' D' R D until it shows the top color, then turn the top layer to bring the next corner forward. The lower layers look scrambled while you do this and come back together at the end.