You can read quarter-turns and their inverses. Keep the scrambled cube from the previous lesson.
Yellow up, blue front, red right for the example. Keep the same front throughout.
1. Learn four turns as one small routine
R U R' U'
A short sequence used repeatedly is often called a trigger. This one will insert our white corners. Read it as “right, top, right back, top back.” Use the notation lesson to check turn directions.
2. Follow one piece
Keep your cube scrambled. Before starting, take a photo of each face or note the sticker positions so you can compare them at the end. Pick any corner and remember its three colors. Perform one whole trigger and find where that piece went. Its three colors are still attached to one another.
Do not try to repair the cube after each individual turn. A useful sequence often moves solved pieces temporarily and restores them later.
3. Repeat with control
Repeat the full trigger six times in total. The cube returns to the exact state where you began. After four repetitions it does not return to the start.
The player shows all six repetitions. Pause after moves 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 to inspect what changed. At move 24, compare every face with the start.
4. Know when this routine helps
Repeating the trigger is a turning drill, not a way to solve any scramble. In the white-corner lesson we will first choose the correct corner and put it directly above its home. Only then will the trigger do useful solving work.
You are now ready to start a real solve. Continue with the 3×3 Beginner course and keep this scramble through its solving stages. If your cube is already solved, scramble it before beginning that course.
Need a reminder of the move notation?
R right · L left · U top · D bottom · F front · B back. A plain letter is 90° clockwise looking directly at that face. An apostrophe (′) reverses it; 2 means 180°. Keep the front fixed during an algorithm.
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
This is a turning drill: six repetitions return to the starting state. Pause every four moves and keep the same front face.
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 3×3, 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
Perform R U R′ U′ six times on your scrambled cube, pausing after each complete repetition. Count repetitions aloud, then compare all six faces with the starting scramble.
Open a 3×3 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
The cube has not returned after six repetitions.
Check the turn directions and that every repetition included the final U′. Use Previous move to undo one mistake in the example; on your cube, undo only moves you remember.
Before moving on
Check your result
Preparation · no solving yet
Return to the same scramble
Six complete triggers restore the scramble you started with. You have learned a turning routine; begin solving with the white edges in the 3×3 Beginner course.
Confirm these on your cube. Watching the animation alone does not complete the lesson.
Check every item when you can do it yourself.