Any 2×2 cube, solved or scrambled.
Find a white corner and hold the cube so that corner’s white sticker faces down.
1. A 2×2 has only corners
There are eight pieces, each with three stickers. No edge pieces and no visible centre stickers need solving. A turn still moves a whole layer of four corners.
We’ll solve one white layer, turn the stickers of the opposite colour to face up, then put those last corners in the correct order. You don’t need to learn the 3×3 first.
2. Choose a reference corner
Find any white corner and hold the cube so that corner’s white sticker faces down. This is your first solved piece and your reference for the side colours.
For example, a white-blue-red corner has a white-blue neighbour on its blue side and a white-red neighbour on its red side. The white corner that shares neither blue nor red belongs diagonally across the white layer.
On the example cube, yellow is opposite white. If your cube has another colour opposite white, use that opposite colour wherever this course says yellow. The two corners with the same pair of side colours reveal the two opposite-face colours.
3. Aim for a layer, not just a face
A finished white layer has four white stickers down and a matching pair along the bottom of every side. White corners in the wrong order can make a white face while leaving the side pairs mixed.
There are no centre stickers to fix the side order, so use the colours of the already placed corner pieces. Do not move your reference corner to a different home just to make the next piece fit.
4. Learn the moves next
The example is a turning drill: six repetitions restore its starting state. You will learn the letters and the four-move routine in the next lesson before using them to insert any corners.
Watch, then try
Work through an example
Start by going through the example one move at a time. It shows a specific action from a prepared position. Use the lesson’s setup instructions to recognize when that action applies to your own scramble.
Watch one worked example
Observe whole corner pieces moving together. This six-repetition drill returns to its starting state; it does not solve an arbitrary scramble.
Example grip: yellow up · blue front · red right at the start. Follow any written whole-cube rotations.
0 / 24
Loading 3D cube…
Prepared position · 0 / 24 moves
Use Next move to follow the sequence.
Drag to inspect other faces. Use the arrow keys to rotate the view when the cube has focus.
Copy this exact example on your own cube
Start with a solved 2×2, with yellow on top and blue at the front. Apply the setup moves below from left to right to create the example’s starting position. Keep this example separate from the scramble you’re solving throughout the course.
R U R' F2 D L2 B U2Then follow the lesson sequence. If your cube’s colour scheme differs, match the piece relationships using your own colours.
Compare the starting position and the result
Drag each cube to inspect its other faces.
Explain it to yourself
Check your understanding
Now use your own cube
Your turn
Count the eight physical pieces. Choose one white corner as your reference and find the other white corners that share each of its side colours.
Open a 2×2 Digital Cube for practiceOpens in a new tab so you can keep this lesson open while you practise. Check for yourself whether you’ve met the lesson goal. The Digital Cube doesn’t grade your work.
If you get stuck
There is no centre telling me which side is blue.
Use your first white corner. Its two non-white stickers establish the colours of the two sides that meet at that corner. The other white corners complete the ring of side colours.
Before moving on
Check your result
Preparation · no solving yet
Recognize the eight corners
Every piece is a corner. Choose a white corner as your reference. You don’t need to solve any faces yet.
Confirm these on your cube. Watching the animation alone does not complete the lesson.
Check off each item once you can do it yourself.