How to solve the 2x2 Rubik's Cube | Beginner Friendly
The 2x2 is the best cube to learn on. It's a Rubik's Cube with the middle stripped away: eight corners, no edges or centers. The same layer-by-layer thinking works, with far less to keep track of, and most people get their first solve in one sitting. Here's the whole method in three steps.
First, the notation
Every move below is written in cube notation, one letter per face turn. Hold the cube with a side facing you:
- R, L, U, D, F, B turn the Right, Left, Up, Down, Front, or Back face clockwise
- A mark like R' means turn that face counterclockwise
- A number like R2 means turn it twice
Step 1 — The white layer
Pick the white side and solve its four corners. Learn this short sequence first, because you'll use it here and again at the end:
R U R' U'
- Find any white corner and hold the cube with white on the bottom. That piece is now placed.
- Find another white corner in the top layer and look at its other two colors. If it shares a color with a piece already down, it belongs on that side; if it shares none, it belongs across from it.
- Turn the top so the corner sits above its spot, held at the front-right, then repeat R U R' U' until it drops in with white on the bottom.
Repeat for all four corners. When the white face and its side colors are complete, the first layer is done.
Step 2 — Position the last-layer corners
Turn the cube over so the unsolved corners are on top. Now place them in the right spots, twist aside for the moment. A corner is in the right spot when its two side colors match the pieces directly below it.
Count how many corners are already right. Hold a correct corner at the front-right (if none are, hold any corner there), then run:
U R U' L' U R' U' L
Check again after each pass, and repeat until all four corners are in the right spots.
Step 3 — Orient the last-layer corners
Every corner is now in the right place. The last job is to twist them so yellow faces up. Read this fully first, because it's the easiest place to slip.
- Turn the whole cube over so the unsolved corners are on the bottom.
- Hold an unsolved corner at the front-right and repeat this until yellow faces down on it:
R' D' R D
- The rest of the cube will look scrambled mid-step. It comes back.
- Then turn only the bottom layer to bring the next unsolved corner to the front-right. Never turn the whole cube.
- Repeat until every corner is solved, then line up the bottom layer. Done.
Two mistakes to avoid: turning the whole cube instead of just the bottom layer between corners, and stopping R' D' R D early because a corner looks solved partway through. Always finish the full sequence.
Watch a full solve
If any step didn't click, here's a complete beginner solve from start to finish.
Now put it to work
The method is the same on any 2x2, but a good one makes it easier to learn on. A smooth, magnetic 2x2 turns cleanly and forgives imprecise fingers, so the cube stops fighting you while the moves become second nature.
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