You’ve likely spent twenty minutes staring at a scrambled mess of plastic, twisting it aimlessly until your fingers hurt, hoping that somehow, by sheer luck, the colors will align. It won't happen. Luck is not a strategy here. Most people think cubing requires some genius-level IQ or a deep understanding of spatial mathematics, but honestly, it’s just muscle memory and a bit of pattern recognition. If you want to know how to complete a rubix cube easy, you have to stop trying to solve the whole thing at once. You solve it in layers.
Think of it like building a house. You don't just throw the roof into the air and hope it lands on the walls. You start with the foundation.
✨ Don't miss: Finding Lorenzo's Kids: Why Far Cry 6 The Seeds of Love is the Game's Most Exhausting Quest
Most beginners get tripped up because they try to "solve a side." Don't do that. Solving one side usually just messes up everything else you've already done. Instead, we’re looking at horizontal layers. If you can memorize about four or five basic sequences—what cubers call algorithms—you can solve any standard 3x3 cube. It’s basically a party trick once you get the hang of it.
The white cross is where everyone messes up
The very first step is the "Daisy" or the White Cross. You want four white edges surrounding the yellow center piece. Why yellow? Because white is always opposite yellow on a standard Rubik's brand cube. This is a non-negotiable rule of the cube’s anatomy. The centers don't move. You can spin the sides all day, but that yellow center is staying right there.
Once you have your "Daisy," you need to align the other color on that white edge piece with the center color of the side it’s on. If you have a white-and-red edge piece, turn the top until that red matches the red center. Then, flip it 180 degrees. Now it’s on the bottom, joined with the white center. Repeat this for all four edges.
You should now have a white cross on the bottom. But wait. Look at the sides. The "arms" of that cross must match the center colors of the side faces. If they don't, you haven't actually started correctly. You’ve just put white stickers in a cross shape without any regard for the rest of the cube's geometry. Erase the idea of "sides" from your brain. Think in "pieces."
Those corners aren't as scary as they look
Now we need to fill in the white corners. This is where you first encounter the "Sexy Move." That’s the actual name the community uses for the $R U R' U'$ algorithm. It’s four moves. Right side up, top to the left, right side down, top to the right.
Find a corner piece on the top layer that has white on it. Let’s say it’s the White-Red-Green corner. Move the top layer until that piece is directly above the spot where it needs to go—the junction of the white, red, and green centers. Now, perform that four-move sequence. You might have to do it once. You might have to do it five times. Eventually, that white corner will drop into place perfectly oriented.
Seriously. It’s that simple.
🔗 Read more: Tic Tac Toe: Why This Ancient Game Still Breaks Our Brains
Solving the middle layer without losing your mind
The first layer is done. You’ve got a solid white face and a "T" shape on every side. Flip the cube over so the white face is on the bottom. Now we’re looking for edge pieces on the top that don't have yellow on them. If an edge piece has yellow, it belongs on the top face. We want the ones that belong in the middle.
Say you find a Red-Blue edge. Match the front color (Red) to the Red center. If the Blue side is to the right, move the piece away from the destination (to the left). Then do the Right-Hand algorithm ($R U R' U'$), rotate the whole cube to the blue face, and do the Left-Hand version ($L' U' L U$).
It feels counterintuitive. You’re moving the piece away to bring it home. But this is the logic of the cube. To move something without breaking the foundation, you have to temporarily displace the solved parts, tuck the new piece in, and then "reset" the foundation. It’s like a dance. If you miss a beat, the whole thing falls apart.
The yellow cross and the final stretch
Now you're looking at the top face. It’s probably a mess of yellow. You might have just the center dot, an "L" shape, or a horizontal line. Our goal is a yellow cross.
If you have the "L" shape (ignore the corners for a second), hold it so the "legs" of the L are pointing at 12 o'clock and 9 o'clock.
Perform this: $F (R U R' U') F'$.
That $F$ means you turn the front face clockwise. Then you do your four-move sequence. Then you turn the front face back. Boom. You should have a line or a cross. If you had a line, make sure it’s horizontal before you do the moves. If you just had a dot, do it once to get the L, then again to get the line, then again to get the cross.
Persistence is key.
Positioning the yellow corners: The "A-Perm" lite
This is the part where most people quit. They get the yellow cross and then accidentally scramble the whole cube because they got nervous. Don't be that person.
Check your yellow corners. Are they in the right spot? They don't have to be turned the right way (yellow doesn't have to be facing up yet), but they need to be sitting between the right colored centers. For example, the Yellow-Green-Red corner needs to be sitting in the corner where the Yellow, Green, and Red faces meet.
If two corners are in the right spot and two aren't, you use a sequence to swap them. Use $U R U' L' U R' U' L$. It looks long, but it’s just a way of shuffling the top deck without touching the bottom two layers you worked so hard on.
The final rotation (The point of no return)
Okay. Your corners are in the right spots, but they're twisted. Yellow might be facing the side instead of the top.
Flip the cube over again. White is now on top. Yellow is on the bottom.
Choose a corner that isn't solved. Do the $R U R' U'$ move until the yellow is facing down. CRITICAL: Do not move the whole cube when you finish one corner. Only rotate the bottom layer to bring the next unsolved corner to your working spot (the bottom right).
The cube will look completely destroyed while you do this. Your white top will be a disaster. Do not panic. If you followed the steps correctly, by the time you solve the last yellow corner, the rest of the cube will magically snap back into its solved state. It’s a moment of pure dopamine.
Why you keep failing (And how to fix it)
Most beginners fail because they lose track of the cube's orientation. They start a sequence with Red facing them, then halfway through, they accidentally tilt the cube so Orange is facing them. That’s game over. You have to be disciplined. Pick a "front" and stick with it for the duration of that specific algorithm.
Another common mistake? Incomplete turns. If you don't turn a face a full 90 degrees, the next turn will jam, or worse, you'll lose your place. Cubing is as much about physical dexterity as it is about memorization. This is why "speedcubes" with magnets are so popular now—they click into place so you can't over-rotate.
Real talk about the Rubik's brand
Honestly? The original Rubik's brand cubes you buy at big-box stores are kind of terrible for learning. They’re stiff, they "pop" (the pieces fly out), and they don't allow for corner-cutting. If you're serious about learning how to complete a rubix cube easy, spend ten bucks on a budget magnetic cube from a site like TheCubicle or SpeedCubeShop. A MoYu RS3M or a QiYi Warrior will feel like driving a Ferrari compared to the clunky 1980s-style bricks.
✨ Don't miss: Why the Persona 5 Flower Shop Guide is More Important Than You Think
Actionable steps to master the cube today
- Memorize the "Sexy Move" ($R U R' U'$) first. Do it while watching TV. Do it until your hand moves on its own without you thinking. This sequence is the engine of the entire solve.
- Learn the color scheme. White is opposite Yellow, Blue is opposite Green, Red is opposite Orange. If you know this, you won't waste time looking for a piece that can't possibly exist (like a white-yellow edge).
- Slow down. Speed is the enemy of the learner. Make deliberate, 90-degree turns.
- Use a timer. Not to be fast, but to track progress. You’ll go from 10 minutes to 5 minutes to 2 minutes faster than you think.
- Focus on the Cross. Spend a whole day just doing the white cross and then scrambling it. If the foundation is weak, the rest doesn't matter.
Stop treating the cube like a puzzle and start treating it like a series of instructions. You aren't "solving" it so much as you are "executing" it. Once you get that first solve without looking at a cheat sheet, you’ll be hooked. It’s one of the few things in life where a clear set of rules actually leads to a guaranteed result every single time.