How to solve a 2×2

A beginner method for the Pocket Cube. First solve usually takes 5–20 minutes. Use a physical 2×2 if you have one — or practise each step in Cube Lab.

Before you start

A 2×2 is eight corners. There are no edges and no centres. You still solve it in layers: white first, then yellow last. The algorithms are the same family as the 3×3 beginner method — just fewer steps.

• Each piece has three colours. Opposite colours never share a piece: white opposite yellow, red opposite orange, green opposite blue.
• There is no centre to aim at. Match corners to each other around a face.
• Keep one solved face as an anchor. Hold it the same way every time you run an algorithm.

Hold it the same way every time. Algorithms assume a face is Front. If you turn the cube in your hands without meaning to, the moves will look wrong.

Why this method

Layer-by-layer is the simplest way to learn a first 2×2 solve: one insert algorithm for white, two for yellow orientation, two for permutation. Ortega still builds a first layer, then replaces trial-and-error OLL and T/Y with seven named OLL cases and five PBL cases — learn that after this page feels easy.

Ready for speed later? Open Ortega or the Ortega Learn track in Cube Lab.

Notation

Same letters as 3×3 — each letter is a 90° clockwise turn of that face, as if looking straight at it.

See the full cube notation reference for U–B, prime, wide, M-slice, and x/y/z.

Opens the 2×2 lesson. The cube matches the diagram — tap ▶ Demo to play the turns.

Step 1 · White layer

Four white corners on top. The first-layer side colours must match around the cube (green next to green, and so on).

Pick white as the first face. Place one white corner by intuition, then treat that corner as the anchor.

Find another white corner. Put it in the bottom layer, under the front-right slot, so its side colours will match the neighbouring solved white corners once it flips up. Hold that slot at the front-right.

Repeat the algorithm until the white sticker on that corner moves from the side onto the top. It may take 1–5 times. Then do the remaining two corners.

Sides must match. A white face with mixed side colours is not finished — those corners will fight you on yellow. There is no centre; match green to green around the first layer.

Opens this step with the first-layer goal on the 3D cube. Tap ▶ Demo for the insert algorithm.

Step 2 · Yellow orientation (OLL)

Flip the cube (white down). Make the whole top face yellow. Corners may still sit in the wrong seats.

Flip the cube over. White (the layer you just finished) goes on the bottom. Yellow is now up. Keep it that way for the rest of the solve.

The yellow stickers on top are usually mixed: some on top, some on the sides. Use Sune and Antisune until every top sticker is yellow.

Recognition without names: count how many yellow stickers already sit on U. Put an unoriented corner at front-right, try Sune, then AUF and look again. If the face gets worse, try Antisune from another angle. You do not need every case by name yet — Ortega will name them later.

It will look scrambled in between. The white layer may break and then come back. That is normal. Do not stop mid-algorithm.

Opens this step with the yellow face as the goal. Tap ▶ Demo for Sune / Antisune.

Step 3 · Yellow permutation (PLL)

Swap the last-layer corners into place. The cube is solved.

The top is yellow; now fix where the corners sit. Look at the side colours of the top layer.

Adjacent swap

Two corners that need to swap are next to each other. You will often see a pair of matching side colours on one face (“headlights”). Hold those headlights on the back, then apply T-perm.

Diagonal swap

Opposite corners need to swap — no headlights pair. Use Y-perm from any angle. A final U turn (AUF) may be needed to line the top with the sides.

Opens this step with a solved 2×2 as the goal. Tap ▶ Demo for T-perm / Y-perm.

Practice path

• White layer only until side colours always match around the face.
• Add Sune / Antisune untimed; ignore permutation until the top is solid yellow every time.
• Learn headlights → T-perm, then diagonal → Y-perm; always finish with AUF.
• When this page needs no lookup, move to Ortega.

Stuck?

If a layer you already solved is a mess, you likely rotated the cube mid-algorithm or skipped a hold instruction. On a physical cube, restore the last stage that still matches the diagram, then retry that step. In Cube Lab, use Undo or reopen the step — ▶ Demo will play the moves on the 3D cube.

If you have a physical cube, you can scan all six faces in Cube Lab. That opens beginner steps for your cube — the same method as this page. Choose Fast solve if you want a short computer solution instead.

To stay on this method, open the 2×2 beginner lesson in Cube Lab and use ▶ Demo on each step.

The 3×3 beginner method is the same idea with edges added: How to solve a 3×3.

After this page

Learn Ortega for named OLL and PBL. Then try a 3×3 beginner solve — the white-corner insert is the same idea with edges added.