Any 2×2 cube, solved or scrambled.
Find a corner with white and hold its white sticker down.
1. A 2×2 has only corners
There are eight pieces, each with three stickers. No edge pieces and no visible center stickers need solving. A turn still moves a whole layer of four corners.
We will solve one white layer, turn the opposite stickers upward, then put those last corners in the correct order. You do not need to learn the 3×3 first.
2. Choose a reference corner
Find any corner with white on it. Hold white facing down. This corner gives you the first solved piece and a reference for the side colors.
For example, a white-blue-red corner has a white-blue neighbor on its blue side and a white-red neighbor on its red side. The white corner sharing neither blue nor red belongs diagonally across the white layer.
On the example cube, yellow is opposite white. If your cube has another color opposite white, use that opposite color wherever this course says yellow. The two corners with the same pair of side colors reveal the two opposite-face colors.
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 center stickers to fix the side order, so use the colors 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
Use one move at a time first. This prepared case teaches a specific action; use the lesson’s setup instructions to recognize when it 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. Arrow keys rotate the view when the cube is focused.
Copy this exact example on your own cube
Start with a solved 2×2, yellow up and blue front. Apply the setup below from left to right. This creates the example’s starting position. Keep this separate from the ongoing scramble you are solving through the course.
R U R' F2 D L2 B U2Then follow the lesson sequence. If your cube’s color scheme differs, match the piece relationships using your own colors.
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 colors.
Open a 2×2 Digital Cube for practiceOpens in a new tab so you can keep this lesson beside your practice. Check the lesson goal yourself; the Digital Cube does not grade it.
If you get stuck
There is no center telling me which side is blue.
Use your first white corner. Its two non-white stickers establish neighboring side colors; the other white corners complete that same ring of side colors.
Before moving on
Check your result
Preparation · no solving yet
Recognize the eight corners
Every piece is a corner. Choose a white reference piece; there is no required solved face yet.
Confirm these on your cube. Watching the animation alone does not complete the lesson.
Check every item when you can do it yourself.