Before the formulas: what do R and L mean?
R comes from Right; L comes from Left. They tell you which outer layer to turn. U is Up, D is Down, F is Front, and B is Back.
Choose a front and keep it facing you during a formula. Your right hand is beside R; your left hand is beside L. Turn one outer layer, not the whole cube.
R means right, not red. The letters name positions, whatever the sticker colors are.
Pick a letter on this unfolded cube to see its layer.
R = Right · Right layer
Imagine a clock on the face you are turning. Look straight at that face to decide clockwise. For L, look from the left; for U, look down from above.
Fixed view · F front, U top, R right
Keep the same front and top on your real cube. Highlighted pieces belong to the next turn.
The main cube keeps the same view. Choose a letter to highlight its layer; Play turns only that layer. F stays at the front.
Right layer · clockwise 90°
Press Play to watch one turn.
Gray stickers can be any color. Match the colored pieces and their setup, not the gray areas.
A letter alone means a quarter turn clockwise. A prime (′ or ') reverses it. A 2 means a half turn; either direction ends in the same place.
RL is two moves: R, then L. Read formulas from left to right, one letter at a time.
Read your first four-move formula
R U R′ U′ means four separate turns. It is a reading exercise, not a formula that solves every scramble.
In plain words
RRight layer · clockwise 90°UTop layer · clockwise 90°R′Right layer · counterclockwise 90°U′Top layer · counterclockwise 90°
Directions are always as seen looking straight at the named face.
Keep the viewpoint straight
A clockwise back-face turn is measured while looking at the back, so it can look reversed from your usual front view. Turn only the named layer. Rotating the 3D preview changes your viewing angle; it does not redefine the front of your physical cube.
The 2×2 and 3×3 scramble inputs use the six outer face letters. In a 4×4 solution, Rw turns the two right layers together, while R turns only the outer layer. The same rule applies to Uw and Fw; a prime reverses the turn and 2 means 180°. 4×4 solver →
Notation reference: Herbert Kociemba’s description of face turns and the two-phase algorithm.