Work through one layer at a time. The examples below let you practise a specific case with real turn animations. For moves calculated for your own scramble, use the 3×3 solver. A formula is useful only when your cube matches its setup.
1. Build a cross with matching side colors
YOUR CHECKPOINT
A white cross with aligned side colors
Each white edge touches the white center, and its side sticker matches that side’s center.
Why this helps: Edges establish the four side colors. A white cross with mismatched sides puts pieces in the wrong slots.
Hold white on top. Find the four edges containing white. Place each beside the white center, with its other color touching the matching side center. A white plus with mismatched side colors is unfinished. Work on edges first; the four corners can wait.
For an edge in the bottom layer with white facing down, align its side color with the matching center and turn that face halfway. If an edge is trapped or flipped, move it into the bottom layer first, then line it up.
A white plus is only half the check
Try turning only U to line up the sides. If all four cannot match together, one or more edges are in the wrong slots. Move each misplaced edge into the bottom layer, line up its side color with its center, and bring it back with a half turn.
2. Finish the white corners
YOUR CHECKPOINT
One whole layer, not just one white face
White fills the top face, and every side has a matching top row.
Why this helps: A corner has three colors. Matching its side colors places it between the correct centers.
Keep white on top. Find a white corner and identify its slot from all three colors. Turn the whole cube so that slot is at the top-front-right, then use D turns to put the corner immediately below it. Repeat R' D' R D until it enters correctly. Finish all four turns of each repetition. Depending on its orientation, insertion takes one, three or five repetitions.
If the corner is already in the top layer but wrong, use the same sequence to move it out first. Check that the entire first layer matches its side centers before continuing. See the corner setup reference.
3. Insert the four middle edges
YOUR CHECKPOINT
White below; two matching rows on every side
The bottom two rows on each side match that side’s center. The top layer can still be mixed.
Why this helps: The insertion takes one edge from the top into its slot and restores the first layer. The left and right sequences send it to different sides.
Gray stickers are outside this checkpoint; their color may vary.Turn the whole cube over: white is now on the bottom and yellow on top. Find a top-layer edge without yellow. Turn U until its front sticker matches the front center. Its other color tells you whether it belongs to the right or left.
- Right slot:
U R U' R' U' F' U F. - Left slot:
U' L' U L U F U' F'.
A misplaced middle edge must be removed with an insertion sequence before you can insert it correctly. See the middle-edge setup examples.
4. Make the yellow cross
YOUR CHECKPOINT
Four yellow edges face upward
Ignore corners for now. The top face needs a yellow plus; the side colors will be aligned next.
Why this helps: This formula changes top-edge orientation while returning the first two layers to their completed state.
Gray stickers are outside this checkpoint; their color may vary.Which pattern is on your top face?
Look straight down at yellow. Count only the four edges beside the center. Gray squares can be any color.
Hold the yellow edges left to right, like a horizontal line. Do the six moves once. All four top edges will face yellow up.
F R U R' U' F'Already have four yellow edges? Move on to matching their side colors →
One or three yellow edges, with the first two layers complete, is a reason to check for a flipped edge or an input error.
A line: Hold the yellow edges left to right, like a horizontal line. Do the six moves once. All four top edges will face yellow up.
An L shape: Put the two yellow edges at the back and left of the top face. Do the formula once to make a horizontal line, then once more for the cross. Keep the same front.
Just the center: None of the four top edges is yellow. Yellow corners do not count. Do the formula once. Turn only the top layer halfway (U2) to put the new L at back-left. Do the formula twice more.
5. Match the yellow edges to their centers
Why this stage matters: yellow facing up tells you an edge is oriented correctly. Its side color tells you whether it is in the correct slot. Finish with all four side edge stickers matching their centers.
Turn U and compare all four side stickers with their centers. If they all match, continue. If two neighboring edges need swapping, hold those positions at front and left, and use R U R' U R U2 R' U. This preserves the yellow cross while swapping those two edges.
If the pair needing a swap is opposite, apply the sequence once, reassess the top layer, then set up an adjacent swap. Recheck alignment after each full sequence. The edge-swap examples show both arrangements.
6. Put the yellow corners in their slots
Your checkpoint: compare each corner’s three colors with its three surrounding centers. They must be the same set of colors, even while yellow points sideways. This step changes positions; the next step fixes twists.
A corner is in its slot when its three colors match the surrounding centers, even if yellow points sideways. Hold a correctly placed corner at top-front-right and use U R U' L' U R' U' L. Repeat if needed. If no corner is correctly placed, apply it once, then find the fixed corner and set up again. The corner-position reference shows the three-piece cycle.
7. Orient the last corners
Watch a whole example before trying this: the bottom layers will look wrong halfway through. The demonstration below explains when to turn U and shows those layers recover. Do not repair them mid-sequence.
Keep the same front face throughout this stage. Put a misoriented corner at top-front-right. Repeat R' D' R D twice or four times until its yellow sticker points up. Complete the final D each time, even if the sticker looks correct sooner.
Turn only U to bring the next unfinished corner into that working position. Do not rotate the whole cube or change the bottom layers between repetitions. The lower layers temporarily look scrambled; they recover after all corners are finished. Finally turn U to align the sides. Consult the last-corner reference if you lose the setup.
Check progress before moving on
First layer: a complete white face and matching side row. Second layer: both lower rows match every side center. Last layer: first orient edges, then place edges, place corners and orient corners. Returning to the previous checkpoint is easier than guessing extra turns.
These are standard beginner layer-method algorithms. See the method overview for additional diagrams. The interactive practice cases here are generated and checked from their formulas. They do not use your saved solver input.