You can identify the three types of piece.
Yellow center up, white down. Choose a front face and keep it facing you.
1. Name the faces from your grip
| Letter | Face to turn |
|---|---|
| U | Up: the top face |
| D | Down: the bottom face |
| F | Front: the face toward you |
| B | Back: the face away from you |
| R | Right |
| L | Left |
These letters describe positions, not colors. If you rotate the whole cube, a different color may become F. During an algorithm, keep your front fixed unless a whole-cube rotation is explicitly written.
2. Read the direction
Imagine looking straight at the face named by the letter. A plain letter means a 90° clockwise turn. An apostrophe means a 90° counterclockwise turn. A 2 means 180°, in either direction.
R: turn the right face clockwise, viewed from the right.R': turn the right face back the other way.U2: turn the top face halfway around.
The bottom and back faces often feel reversed because you are viewing them from the front. Judge clockwise from the face being turned, not from the front of the cube.
3. Read left to right
R U R' U' means four separate turns: right clockwise, top clockwise, right counterclockwise, top counterclockwise. Finish one move before starting the next.
To undo a sequence, reverse its order and invert each move. The undo for those four turns is U R U' R', not the original sequence with all apostrophes swapped in place.
4. Match the demonstration
The next-move caption spells out the face and direction. Advance one move, perform it on your cube, and compare. Dragging the on-screen cube changes your viewing angle; it is not a move in the sequence.
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
Practice on this scrambled cube: R then R′ undo each other, and U2 twice also returns to the start. The same scramble remains after all four moves.
Example grip: yellow up · blue front · red right at the start. Follow any written whole-cube rotations.
0 / 4
Loading 3D cube…
Prepared position · 0 / 4 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
Make R, then undo it with R′. Do the same with U and F. Finally do U2 twice. Before each move, say which face moves and in which direction.
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
My R looks counterclockwise from the front.
Look directly at the right face to judge its direction. Front-view motion is not the definition of clockwise.
Before moving on
Check your result
Preparation · no solving yet
Return to the same scramble
Each move is followed by its inverse, so the cube returns to the same scramble. You are practicing turn notation; solving begins 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.