How to Solve a 3x3 Cube for Beginners, Step by Step

A 3x3 cube looks impossible because every turn seems to wreck what you have built. The beginner's method gets round that by solving the cube one layer at a time, using a handful of short move sequences (algorithms) that change only the pieces you want. Learn the seven steps below and you can solve any mixed-up cube, usually inside a few minutes once the moves are in your fingers.

The notation: how to read the moves

Hold the cube with one face pointing at you. Each letter means turning one face a quarter turn clockwise, as if you were looking straight at that face.

A letter with an apostrophe (R') means counter-clockwise. A 2 (U2) means turn it twice. The centre pieces never move relative to each other, so the centre tells you a face's colour: the face with the white centre is the white face, however scrambled it looks.

Step 1: the white cross

Make a white cross on one face, with each white edge's other colour matching the centre beside it.

The easiest way for a beginner is the daisy: hold yellow on top and move the four white edges up around the yellow centre, like petals. Then, one petal at a time, turn the top (U) until the petal's side colour matches the centre below it, and turn that face twice (F2). The edge drops to the bottom in the right place. Do all four and turn the cube over: white cross on top.

Step 2: the white corners

Hold the cube with the white cross on the bottom. Find a top-layer corner with white on it, and turn U until it sits directly above the slot where it belongs (between the two centres that match its other colours), at the front right.

Repeat R U R' U' until the corner drops in with white facing down. It may take up to six repeats. Do the same for all four corners, and the first layer is done.

Step 3: the middle layer

Keep white on the bottom. Find an edge in the top layer with no yellow on it. Turn U until its front colour matches the front centre, making an upside-down T. Then:

• If it belongs to the right: U R U' R' U' F' U F
• If it belongs to the left: U' L' U L U F U' F'

If an edge is stuck in the middle layer the wrong way round, use either sequence to pop any top edge into its slot, and it comes up to the top where you can place it properly.

Step 4: the yellow cross

Yellow is now on top. Look at the yellow edges (ignore the corners). You will see a dot, an L, a line or the cross.

Use F R U R' U' F'. From a dot, do it once to get an L. Hold the L so its arms point to the back and the left, and do it again to get a line. Hold the line left to right, and do it once more for the cross.

Step 5: line up the yellow edges

Turn U until two of the cross's edges match the centres below them. Hold those two at the back and right and do R U R' U R U2 R' U. If the two matching edges are opposite each other instead, do it once from any side and you will then have a matching pair to use.

Step 6 and 7: the last corners

Place the corners. Find a yellow corner that is in the right spot, even if twisted. Hold it at the front right top and do U R U' L' U R' U' L until all four corners sit in their correct places.

Twist the corners. Keep yellow on top, put an unsolved corner at the front right top, and repeat R' D' R D until its yellow faces up (two or four times). The rest of the cube will look broken; ignore it. Turn only the top layer (U) to bring the next unsolved corner to the front right, and repeat. Never turn the whole cube during this step. When the last corner is done, turn U once more and the cube is solved.

If your cube is already mixed up

You do not need a solved cube to start: the method works from any scramble. Begin at Step 1 with whatever cube you have. If you get lost mid-step, finish the white face again and continue.

A cube that helps you learn

A cheap toy-shop cube catches halfway through turns and pops pieces out, which is exactly when beginners lose their place. A magnetic speed cube has magnets inside that snap each layer into line, so moves stay clean while you are still thinking about them. A standard cube has over 43 quintillion positions, and it has been shown that any of them can be solved in 20 face turns or fewer. You will not need anywhere near that skill to enjoy it.

If you like the cube, try a different kind of brain teaser next: an interlocking burr puzzle or a set of metal wire puzzles.