How to Solve a 3x3 Rubik's Cube

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How to Solve a 3x3 Rubik's Cube

Derek Tia

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Step 1 of 27

Start with a scrambled Rubik's cube.

Step 2 of 27

Choose a layer to solve and make a cross on it. A correct cross means the other face of the piece matches the center color of the other face. More detailed instructions follow.

Step 3 of 27

Overview of the cross

Step 4 of 27

Cross side 1

Step 5 of 27

Cross side 2

Step 6 of 27

Cross side 3

Step 7 of 27

Cross side 4

Step 8 of 27

Here's another angle so you can see how all 4 sides match on the cross.

Step 9 of 27

Now look for the corner pieces that you want to fill in the first layer with. I want to find pieces that point out on the side faces of the cube and if not, arrange them so they are.

Step 10 of 27

Determine the correct placement of the piece before insertion.

Step 11 of 27

Insert that piece into the correct corner of the first layer.

Step 12 of 27

Do the same for the other 3 corners.

Step 13 of 27

First layer solved.

Step 14 of 27

Figure out which piece needs to fill the second layer.

Step 15 of 27

Place the appropriate piece in the second layer.

Step 16 of 27

First piece in correct place in second layer.

Step 17 of 27

Do the same for the other 3 pieces in the second layer.

Step 18 of 27

Second layer solved.

Step 19 of 27

Make a cross on the top layer.

Step 20 of 27

Align the cross part 1.

Step 21 of 27

Align the cross part 2.

Step 22 of 27

Determine where the corner blocks should go.

Step 23 of 27

Move the corner pieces to the right locations.

Step 24 of 27

Do the same for the other 3 corners.

Step 25 of 27

Orient the corner pieces correctly.

Step 26 of 27

Keep doing the "finger trick" to finish solving the cube.

Step 27 of 27

Congratulations, you have solved a Rubik's cube!

You're Done

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Derek Tia

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1 Rubik's cube

I still don't get it

Kaitlyn Marie last month

Thank

Oscar Niederstein Álvarez last month

Ghana

Oscar Niederstein Álvarez last month

That is really help

向宽 2 months ago

I'm sili

Tonto quien lo lea Jajajaja 3 months ago

I think I'm in Love With You

Natalia Esparza 3 months ago

I'm lost....

Lilah Sherr 4 months ago

I want to try it but I don't have a Rubix cube

Rosie Ridley 4 months ago

this is an easy cheat method. My method is much faster. Yous who can't understand are fools.

grsa grsa 6 months ago

Cool! I used to twist the corner cube to take it apart, then put it back together again!

Brible Offwanktax 8 months ago

I tried it ant I can't do it and I followed all the steps. I was at it 4 a hour

Charlie S-A 8 months ago

Complicated

Kc Ros 8 months ago

Cool!

Julia Michienzi 8 months ago

Wow that's epic

Charlie S-A 12 months ago

whoa - you lost me on step 1.

Cory Brookes last year

Thanks for showing me the logic behind it! Kind of like a magician sharing his secrets! I appreciated it!

Lee Parniske last year

Still can't do it... :(

Kremithi Watashi last year

Interesting

D Moran last year

Mean

Borges Randall last year

Guide updated to show how to make the cross. Enjoy!

Derek Tia (author) last year

I just take the stickers off

Cailin Jarvis last year

It is

RJ Sawyer last year

U make it look so easy :-/

Sandy Joachim last year

Or you could rearrange the stickers! Haha

Tatianna Timor last year

I made another guide on this that explains how to put the pieces in their places with algorithms. I also explained how to understand the algorithms

Auston McMahon last year

I am a master at the Rubicks Cube. My best time is 0:56:23. (56 seconds.)

Evan Gartley last year

I quit after looking at it in 3 minutes, its so complicated...but nice guide...

Björn LúLszic last year

This doesn't work.

Sheep Sheepinson last year

Marvelous. I always want to do That. Last Night i was talking with my husband and asking if anywone realy can. Now i belive. I will try! (i'm Sorry about my terrible english)

Denise Nascimento last year

Wtf! Neat!!

John Kerry last year

Glad to hear you guys are successfully executing this method. @Erin: at the end of the day, solving a Rubik's cube really means looking for patterns and choosing a good algorithm (in this case "do this" and "do that") to solve it. I do agree that this could be made more clear though. Many people seem to have trouble understanding step 2 though, so I'll try to update it with clearer instructions.

Derek Tia (author) last year

You'd be surprised. I know too many people who buy them and lookup solutions do they can impress their friends. But overall the Rubik's Cube is a puzzle. You wouldn't ask someone to do a puzzle for you, it would defeat the purpose.

Evan Lugo last year

I'm sure those who are interested in solving it have already tried many times on their own. I doubt someone is going to buy a Rebik's Cube having never touched one in their life, come home, and look up a video on how to solve it. Give me a break.

Erin Sales last year

I'm sorry, but the point of the Rubik's cube is to exercise the mind. When you read instructions on how to do it you're essentially cheating on your own mental development. That being said, this is an accurate and helpful guide for those who want to learn a cool trick, but I definitely recommend trying it on your own first. It's a great challenge :)

Evan Lugo last year

I could not make sense of this tutorial. I found there was a little bit too much of, "do this", instead of being specific as to what I should actually be doing. But I definitely appreciate the effort, as this is not an easy task to explain! Thank you!

Erin Sales last year

Doesn't work.

Austin Whoolery last year

Woof!

Poncho Russell last year

Woww

Prair Dulyathamapirom last year

Yessssssssssssss I finally got sub sixty..... This is a good starter method btw

Dan Butters last year

Finally I did it. Thank you

Lidia Punturiero last year

Tooooo good.

Nikket Pokharrna last year

Nice!

Gordon Peterson last year

Handy hard and it has solved one of life's endless mysteries and problems. How did you figure it out

Kieran Lancaster last year

Nice guide!

Charles Symons last year

Still can't understand how to do it😞😞

Domenic Zattra last year

Wow!!! I'm definitely gonna try it!

Usama Rashid last year

Im 12 and i just learned how to solve a rubicks cube! My friend has been been doing for a long time and is up to 13 seconds! Hes got fast hands and is koreon

Jonny Santana last year

Haha. Saw a kid doing a rubiks cube earlier and was wondering how he does it...

Margaret Davis last year

Just my 2cent. :)

Shamsul Amar last year

For me myself, its not so important to solve it within 20 sec. The most important is knowing the logic behind it instead of solve it with a formula without knowing how and why that formula works.

Shamsul Amar last year

Right now I am learning F2L, OLL, and PLL. Not that fast at it though only like 1 minute and 20 sec

Dan Butters last year

Wow cool

Makayla Jones last year

Cool! My names Derek and I solve runic cubes too!

Derek K last year

I could never figure this out. U r good. Maybe too good…o__o

Nicole D last year

Agree with u Derek. Roux faster than CFOP. But Roux is hard to learn for new comer. To many patern to remember compare to CFOP.

Shamsul Amar last year

I've managed to do it in 50 seconds but this is definitely not the fastest method, just one of many.

Derek Tia (author) last year

Not fast enough. U can find people can done it less than 20 sec. For 1st and 2nd layer i use ROUX. Last layer use CFOP+ my own way.

Shamsul Amar last year

Wow that's pretty fast. What is you favorite method?

Dan Butters last year

My fastest record with CFOP is 40 sec. I do beleived other person can do better.

Shamsul Amar last year

I know I can do it in like 90 seconds this way. I was just wondering what your fastest time is.

Dan Butters last year

It's CFOP. when u already familiar with it, u will able to solve it within a minutes.

Shamsul Amar last year

What is your fastest time for this method?

Dan Butters last year

Lol

Dan Henson 3 months ago

I'm already confused

Marcel East 6 months ago

How do I get the cross?

Kremithi Watashi last year

I think I see - cross is 4 white squares plus center. Each non-center white square has a corner leading to a new side. The color of the 'other' side of each non-white square matches the center square on THAT side. Here, the center square on top is BLUE, as is the square which 'corners up' with the top square of the white cross. The same thing happens in red on the right side.

Toni Foselli last year