Rubik’s Cube Guide for Beginners: learn to solve it
Seven steps and five short sequences of turns take you from a scrambled cube to your first solve. Every step has pictures of the whole cube, and nothing needs to be memorised in one go. When you can solve it, the Speed Guide shows how fast solvers think.
Stuck at any point? Colour your cube into the Rubik’s Cube Solver and it will show you the turns that solve it. To practise the turn letters and sequences until they feel natural, use the Rubik’s Cube Trainer.
Before you start: the parts of the cube
A cube has 6 centre squares that never move relative to each other, so a centre always tells you the colour of its face. It also has 12 edge pieces with two colours each and 8 corner pieces with three colours each. Solving the cube means putting every edge and corner in its home between the matching centres.
How to read the turns
Each letter names a face: U up, D down, L left, R right, F front, B back. A letter on its own means a quarter turn clockwise as you look straight at that face. A letter followed by ’ means a quarter turn anticlockwise. A letter followed by 2 means a half turn. For example, R U R’ U’ means: turn the right face clockwise, the top face clockwise, the right face anticlockwise, the top face anticlockwise.
Hold the cube still in the same position while you carry out a sequence. Only turn the whole cube when a step tells you to.
How to read the pictures
Every picture shows the whole cube in two ways. On the left it is shown as you hold it, with the top, front and right faces in view. On the right the same cube is opened out flat, like a cardboard box laid on the table, so that all six faces and all 54 squares can be seen. The letters name the faces: U top, F front, R right, L left, B back, D bottom. Later pictures use grey for a square whose colour does not matter yet.
Step 1. The white cross
Goal: four white edge pieces on the bottom face, each one also matching the centre of the side face it touches.
How: start with the daisy. Hold the cube with the yellow centre on top. Bring the four white edge pieces next to the yellow centre so that the white squares all face up and make a flower shape.
- A white edge in the top layer with white facing up is already in place. Turn the top face to move it out of the way of the next one.
- A white edge in the bottom layer with white facing down: turn the bottom face until the piece is directly below an empty petal space, then turn that face a half turn (for example F2 when it sits below the front space).
- A white edge in the middle layer on the front right, with its white square on the front face: turn the right face once clockwise (R). Its white square now faces up. With the white square on the right face instead, turn the front face anticlockwise (F’).
- For every other position, turn the face beside the piece until it reaches one of the positions above. If a turn disturbs a petal you already placed, turn the top face to move the petals clear before you try again.
Now match each petal to the centre below it. Turn the top face until the side colour of one petal matches the centre on that side, then turn that face a half turn. The white square goes down to the bottom face. Repeat for the other three petals. You now have a white cross on the bottom, and the cube stays this way up for the rest of the guide: yellow on top, white on the bottom.
Step 2. The white corners
Goal: the whole white bottom layer finished, with the side colours matching the centres.
How: look for a white corner piece in the top layer. Turn the top face until the piece sits directly above the place where it belongs, which is the slot between its two side colours. Hold that place at the front right. Then repeat this sequence until the piece drops into place with white facing down. It takes between 1 and 5 repeats.
A white corner already in the bottom layer in the wrong place is moved out the same way: put it at the front right, do the sequence once, and it returns to the top layer. Then place it as above.
Step 3. The middle layer
Goal: the four edge pieces of the middle layer in their homes, so that two layers are finished.
How: look for an edge piece in the top layer that has no yellow on it. Turn the top face until the side colour of the piece matches the centre of the face in front of you. Look at its top colour. If it matches the centre on the right, move it to the right. If it matches the centre on the left, move it to the left.
To the right:
To the left:
If every top edge has yellow on it but a middle edge sits in the wrong place or the wrong way round, do one of the sequences with that piece at the front. It moves out to the top layer, and you can place it again.
Step 4. The yellow cross
Goal: four yellow squares forming a cross on the top face. The pictures below show the cases you can meet. Yellow squares are yellow and grey squares are any other colour. Find the picture whose top face matches yours, hold your cube the same way, and do the sequence under it.
If you have the dot, do the line sequence once. You will get an L shape. Hold it as in the picture and do the L sequence. Keep going until you have the cross.
Step 5. The yellow edges
Goal: each yellow edge also matches the side colour of the face it touches.
How: turn the top face until as many edge pieces as possible match their centres. If all four match, go to Step 6. If two next to each other match, hold the cube so that the matching pair are at the back and on the right, then do this sequence. Turn the top face again to check.
If two opposite edges match, do the sequence once from any side. You will then have two next to each other, and you continue as above. The sequence swaps the front and left edges and leaves the rest of the cross in place.
Step 6. Put the yellow corners in their homes
Goal: every corner piece sits between its three matching centres. The twist of each corner does not matter yet.
How: check each top corner for one that is already in its home, meaning its three colours match the three faces it touches. Hold the cube so that this corner is at the front right on the top layer, then do this sequence. It moves the other three corners around in a circle and leaves the front right corner in place. Repeat until all four corners are home. If none is home, do the sequence once from any side and look again.
Step 7. Twist the last corners
Goal: every yellow square on the top face, and the whole cube solved.
How: hold the cube with an unsolved corner at the front right on the top layer, and do this sequence two times, then check. If the yellow square is not yet on top, do it two more times.
When the corner shows yellow on top, turn only the top face to bring the next unsolved corner to the front right, and repeat. Do not turn the whole cube. The bottom two layers look mixed up while you work, and they come right when the last corner is done. Turn the top face once more to line up the final layer, and the cube is solved.
What to do next
Solve the cube a few times while looking at this page, then try without it. After about ten solves most people remember all five sequences. When you are ready to go faster, open the Speed Guide. To make the sequences automatic, practise them in the Rubik’s Cube Trainer.
Questions about solving the Rubik’s Cube
Is the Rubik’s Cube hard to learn?
It looks hard and is easy once it is broken into steps. The method on this page has seven steps and only five sequences of turns. Most people can solve the cube after a few hours of practice spread over a few days.
How long does it take to learn?
Expect an evening to understand the steps and a week of short practice sessions to solve the cube without looking at the guide. After about ten solves most people remember all five sequences.
What if I get lost halfway?
Colour your cube into the Rubik’s Cube Solver and it shows the turns that solve it from where you are. You can then carry on with the guide.
How do I get faster?
The Speed Guide shows the method fast solvers use, with all 30 last layer sequences. The Rubik’s Cube Trainer helps you make each sequence automatic.