How to Solve a Rubik’s cube (Step by Step Instructions) – by My Son

Posted on by Summa Lai

STEP 1 – COMPLETE THE FIRST LAYER CROSS

  1. Keep WHITE centre on top
  2. Put the GREEN centrepiece in front (facing you)
  3. Find the GREEN/ WHITE edge piece (it only has 2 colours) and turn it to one of the positions shown below (keeping white on top and green in front)
  4. Choose the options below that matches your situation and follow the arrow steps to place the GREEN/ WHITE edge piece in place.
step1 - how to solve the white cross

Keeping white on top, turn the cube so that a different colour face (center) is toward you. Follow the above instructions again. Repeat with the other two faces until the white cross is complete. This step is quite intuitive; you can do it for sure but it does take a little practice. Just move the white edges to their places not messing up the ones already fixed. 

STEP 2 – COMPLETE THE FIRST LAYER CORNERS

  1. Keep WHITE on top
  2. Put the GREEN centrepiece in front (facing you)
  3. Find the GREEN/WHITE/RED corner (it has 3 colours) and place it in one of the positions below (without disturbing the white cross)
  4. Choose from the steps below to place the GREEN/WHITE/RED corner piece in place without disturbing the white cross.
step2a - solving the first layer corners

Possible Problem:
The corner you are looking for is in the top layer, but in the wrong position or turned the wrong way around. Turn the cube so that the corner is in the front right top corner then move the corner to the bottom layer by following the following steps.

Solution:

step1b - first layer corners

Perform these steps, then choose again from steps above to put the corner in place

Keeping white on top, turn the cube so that a different colour face is toward you. Follow the above instructions again. Repeat with the other two faces until the white cross is complete.

STEP 3 – COMPLETE SECOND LAYER

  1. Keep WHITE on top
  2. Find the GREEN/RED edge piece
  3. If it is in the bottom layer, then turn the bottom layer to match the edge with the centre colour (see fig below).
  4. If the edge is not in the bottom layer, then go to Step C
  5. Choose from the steps below to place the edge piece in place.

A/B

step3a - second layer edges

Possible Problem:
The edge piece you want to move is in the second layer but in the wrong position or the wrong way around.

Solution: Turn the cube so that the edge is in the front layer then do either solution above to move the piece into the bottom row. Then go back to step 4 above.

C

sep3b - Second Layer edges

Continue with steps A/B with different centers facing you until the second layer is completehttps://www.youtube.com/embed/yd0pr8EKOhc

STEP 4 – COMPLETE THE THIRD LAYER CROSS

  1. Turn the cube over (white is now on the bottom and yellow on top)
  2. You should find that there are 0, 2 or 4 pieces (of the cross) facing upward. Ignore the corners for now.
  3. The idea is first to get the yellow cross and secondly to turn swap pieces to the correct position in the cross.
  4. Perform the algorithm below to get to the yellow cross.  Make sure your cube is orientated is shown in the image.
step4 - last layer cross

Repeat this algorithm till you get the yellow cross

You will now have 4 or 2 edge pieces in the correct place. Matching with the center colours. Ensure the correct edge pieces are at the back and right face. Use the algorithm below to put the edge pieces in the correct position.

step4a - move last layer edges

Possible Problem:
Two pieces that are in the correct position are opposite each other.

Solution: Perform the steps above once and then turn the cube like the one shown above and perform the steps again.https://www.youtube.com/embed/8ZspITaRwEI

STEP 5  –  COMPLETE THE THIRD LAYER CORNERS

(1) First we will put the corners in the correct position (A).
You will now have either 0, 1 or ALL the corners pieces will be in their correct positions, either the right way up or reversed.
If one corner piece is in the correct corner turn the cube to that this correct corner is in the front top right position. The piece is in the correct position, BUT may not be turned the correct way around.(A)step5a - last layer corners permutate

Repeat the sequence until all the corners are in the correct position.

Possible Problem: None of the corners is in the correct position.
Solution: Perform the steps in (A) once with ANY side facing you (YELLOW at the top). Now one corner will be in the correct position. Proceed with (A) above.

Having trouble with this step?

Watch the video belowhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/iB8IXLg_4Hg

The next steps will turn the corners (one by one) the correct way and ultimately solve the cube.

NOTE: THIS ROUTINE MAY APPEAR TO UPSET THE REST OF THE CUBE. DO NOT DESPAIR AND KEEP THE SAME SIDE FACING YOU IT WILL ONLY BE SOLVED ONCE THE LAST CORNER IS ORIENTATED. 

step5 - orentating last layer cornersRepeat the moves until the YELLOW side of the corner piece is on top. You may have to do it 2-3 times.

KEEP THE SAME SIDE FACING YOU.  Rotate the TOP LAYER until the next corner piece to be rotated is in the top-right position. Repeat the above sequence until the YELLOW side of the corner that you are rotating is on top. Continue the process until the cube is complete. Then rotate the top layer.

Ref:  https://www.speedcube.com.au/pages/how-to-solve-a-rubiks-cube