Rubik’s Cube Speed Guide: the 30 algorithms

For people who can already solve the cube and want to do it in fewer turns. This page teaches the CFOP method that fast solvers use and lists the 30 sequences for the last layer: 9 for making the top face yellow and all 21 for putting the last layer in order. If you cannot solve the cube yet, start with the Beginner Guide.

To make each sequence automatic, practise it in the Rubik’s Cube Trainer, and test yourself against a move limit in the Rubik’s Cube Challenge.

Do you need this route?

Only if you can already solve the cube with the beginner route and would like to do it in fewer turns. Nothing on this page is needed to solve the cube. If you are still learning, stay on the beginner route and come back later.

What fast solvers do differently

They do the same job as the beginner route, in four stages, and they replace the long beginner sequences with several short ones that they know by heart. The four stages are Cross, F2L, OLL and PLL, and together the letters spell CFOP. Here is how they line up with what you already know:

The order I suggest, one step at a time

1. Keep using beginner Steps 1 to 3 for now.
2. Learn Part A (OLL), which replaces beginner Steps 4 and 7. That is 9 sequences.
3. Learn Part B (PLL), which replaces beginner Steps 5 and 6. Start with the 6 you need for two look PLL and add the rest over time. That is 21 sequences in all.
4. Only then look at Part C (F2L).

So what: after Parts A and B you skip four beginner steps. Nine plus 21 makes 30 sequences, but you do not learn them in one go. Learn two or three a week, and each one makes your solve shorter on its own, so you can stop at any point and still be faster.

Extra turn letters used on this page

• M turns the middle slice between the left and right faces, in the same direction as the left face turns.
• r turns the right face and the middle slice next to it together, in the same direction as R.
• x turns the whole cube like the right face, and z turns the whole cube like the front face. A mark after the letter works as always: the apostrophe means the other direction.

How to use the pictures

Each card shows the same cube twice. On the left you see the cube as you hold it. On the right the cube is opened out flat so that all six faces and all 54 squares are visible. Yellow squares are yellow, and grey squares are any other colour that does not matter for that case. Find the card whose top face matches the top face of your cube, hold your cube the same way, and do the turns written under the picture.

The sequences in this guide have each been checked on a model of the cube, and every picture is drawn by the same model.

Part A. Two look OLL: make the top face yellow

First the cross, then the corners. Hold your cube as in each picture and do the sequence under it. There are 9 sequences here, and the dot case uses two of them.

The yellow cross

A dot (only the centre yellow) is solved by doing the line sequence first, then the L shape sequence if needed. Once the cross is complete, find the picture that matches your corners.

The yellow corners

Hold the cube so that the picture matches, and if you see a pattern that is not shown, turn the top face until it matches one, or do the Sune once and look again.

Part B. PLL: put the last layer in order

When the top face is all yellow, the last layer needs only to be put in order. There are 21 cases in all. Two look PLL uses just 6 of them: Aa (corners), Ua and Ub (edges), H and Z (two edge pairs), and T or Y (to fix a corner swap). Turn the top face between sequences to line up the side colours, and the pictures show the side colours as well.

Only the corners move

Three cases. All edges are already in place, so look at the corners only.

Only the edges move

Four cases. All corners are already in place, so look at the edges only.

Two corners swap and two edges swap

Ten cases. Look for the corners that are in the wrong place and the edges that are in the wrong place, and match the picture.

Three corners and three edges rotate

Four cases. Nothing is in place except one corner, and the four G cases are mirror images and reverses of each other.

Each sequence above leaves the first two layers exactly as they were, so you can use it at the end of any solve.

Part C. Learn F2L as pairs

Instead of solving corners and edges one by one, look for a corner and its matching edge, join them into a pair in the top layer, and insert the pair into its slot in one go. Two short sequences that you already know appear in many F2L cases:

The first works on the front right slot and the second on the front left slot. They lift pieces out of a slot and place them in again, which is how a pair is built. Practise slowly and keep asking one question before each move: where are the corner and the edge that belong together, and what is the shortest way to bring them side by side?

How to get faster

• Look ahead. The biggest gain comes from finding the next piece while your hands do the current move. Slow down and keep turning smoothly, and your eyes will learn to get ahead of your hands.
• Plan the cross in inspection. Competitions give 15 seconds to look at the cube before the clock starts. Practise solving the whole cross in your head in that time.
• Use your fingers. Hold the cube loosely with both hands and turn faces with flicks of the index fingers and wrists rather than regripping the cube. Sequences such as R U R’ U’ become one smooth movement.
• Keep the cube still. Every time you rotate the whole cube you spend time. Learn sequences you can do from several angles.
• Practise little and often. Fifteen minutes a day beats one long session a week. Time five solves, average them, and watch the average fall.
• Lubricate and loosen your cube. A good speed cube spins easily and corner cuts well. A cheap cube is perfectly fine for learning.

Where to go next

The community website https://www.speedsolving.com/ has a large library of free guides. https://jperm.net/ has free algorithm lists and tutorials, and https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/ lists official competitions near you.