How to Solve a 2x2 Rubik's Cube Fast

You only need six letters for the beginner method: R, U, F, and their primes. R rotates the right face 90° clockwise as you look at the right face; R' is the opposite. U rotates the top face clockwise as you look down at it. F rotates the front face clockwise as you look at the front. U2 means "rotate the top 180°" — direction does not matter for a half-turn. Practice reading 'R U R' U'' out loud and performing it five times before continuing.

Choose white as the bottom-face colour (any colour works, white is conventional). Pick up the cube and rotate it slowly. Find all four corners that have a white sticker somewhere on them. These four corners are what you will bring to the bottom layer in the next two steps.

Hold the cube with the white face down. Pick one white corner that currently sits in the top layer. Rotate the top face (U or U') until the corner is positioned directly above where it belongs in the bottom layer — its two side colours should match the side colours of the bottom-layer slot. Then perform the insertion sequence: R U R' U'. Repeat the sequence (one, three, or five times — always an odd count) until the white sticker faces down and the corner is locked in.

Repeat the procedure from step 3 for each of the other three white corners. When all four are in, the entire bottom face shows one solid white square, and the side stickers around the bottom layer form four matching colour strips — for example red-red on the front-bottom, blue-blue on the right-bottom, etc.

Turn the cube over. White is now on the bottom (hidden) and yellow (or whichever colour is opposite white on your cube) is on top. Your goal in the next step is to make every top sticker the same colour.

The Sune algorithm is: R U R' U R U2 R'. It orients the top corners — it rotates them in place without moving them to a different slot. Hold the cube with the yellow face up. Look for any non-yellow sticker on top. Rotate the top until that sticker sits on the LEFT side of the front-right corner. Apply Sune. If the top is still not all yellow, rotate the top again to find another non-yellow corner in the same orientation and re-apply Sune. Most cases finish in one or two applications; a few need three.

With yellow on top, the four side faces each show two stickers in their top row. Rotate the top face (U) and look at each of the four side faces in turn. You want a side where both top stickers are the same colour and match the colour of the bottom-layer band beneath them. If at least one side matches, hold it on the LEFT of the cube (so the matching pair faces your left hand) and skip to step 8. If no side matches, apply the Y-perm in step 8 once anyway, then rotate U and re-check; one side will now match — hold it on the left and apply step 8 again.

With the matching side held on the LEFT, apply the 14-move Y-perm: R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'. The two right-side top corners swap, the cube is solved. Verify by checking that all six faces are one colour each. Tip: practice the sequence slowly the first few times; the F R2 in the middle catches beginners because it's the only F-face turn in the sequence.