A 2×2 has eight corners. Each corner carries three colors that stay together, so four white stickers alone do not make a finished layer. Look at the side colors too. This guide teaches a repeatable method; the 2×2 solver gives a shortest answer for a particular scramble.
Before the first turn
Find a white corner and hold it at the top-back-left. Its other two colors start the side rows you will build. Keep white on top for the first stage. A letter such as R means turn that face clockwise while looking directly at it; R′ means the reverse and R2 means a half turn. The animated notation guide shows each direction.
Finish a complete formula before judging the result. A good piece can move away temporarily and come back later in the sequence.
1. Build a white layer with matching sides
YOUR CHECKPOINT
White on top, matching pairs around the sides
Look at all four side faces. Each top row must be a matching pair, not just the top face a matching color.
Why this helps: Those pairs tell you the white corners are in the correct order. You will use them instead of fixed centers in the next stage.
Choose a remaining white corner. Use its other two colors to find the gap it belongs in, next to the white corners you have already placed. Turn the whole cube so that gap is top-front-right. Turn only the bottom layer until the corner sits directly underneath it.
Now repeat R' D' R D until the corner enters with white facing up. It takes one, three or five repetitions depending on its starting twist. Always finish the final D. Then turn the whole cube to put the next empty slot at top-front-right and do the same for the remaining white corners.
If a white corner is already upstairs but twisted or in the wrong slot, put that slot at top-front-right and do the sequence once to move it downstairs. Set it up beneath its correct slot and try again. Keep the white corners you have finished away from the working slot.
2. Put the four yellow corners in their places
Turn the whole cube over. White is now on the bottom. Keep it there for the rest of the solve. The matching bottom pairs tell you what color each side will become.
For each top corner, ignore which way yellow points. Compare its other two colors with the bottom pairs on the two sides of that slot. Green and red belong between the green side and the red side, even if yellow is facing sideways.
Turn U and check all four possible alignments. If all four corners can be placed correctly, skip the swaps. Otherwise, choose an alignment with two correct corners. The other pair will be adjacent or diagonal. These two formulas swap that pair while keeping the white layer intact:
- Adjacent pair: rotate the whole cube so the two wrong corners are top-front-right and top-back-right. Use
R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'. - Diagonal pair: hold the wrong corners at top-front-right and top-back-left. Use
F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R F'.
If none of the four U alignments has two or four correct corners, choose a top alignment, apply the adjacent swap once and check the U alignments again. Recheck the side pairs after each complete formula.
Before moving on: all four yellow corners have the right three colors for their slots. Yellow does not have to face up yet.
3. Turn yellow upward, one corner at a time
Put an unfinished corner at top-front-right. Keep the same front face for this entire stage. Repeat R' D' R D twice or four times until that corner’s yellow sticker points up. Complete every four-turn repetition.
Turn only U to bring the next unfinished corner to top-front-right. Repeat the four-turn formula there. Work through all unfinished corners, then turn U to align the side colors.
The bottom will look scrambled partway through. That is expected. Keep your front fixed, use only U between corners, and finish every D turn. The bottom recovers after the full set of corner twists.
YOUR CHECKPOINT
Six solid faces
Check the back and bottom as well as the three faces you can see. Each face should have one color.
Why this helps: A solved top face can hide misplaced corners. All six faces must agree.
If the last step goes wrong
Pause before adding more turns. The usual causes are stopping before the last D, rotating the whole cube between corners, or starting this stage before every corner was in its correct slot. If you cannot retrace the mistake, enter the current colors in the solver and get back to a solved cube for another try.
If only one corner appears twisted after carefully checking every face, use the invalid-cube checks before changing anything physically.
Method references: Ruwix’s pocket-cube guide. The examples on this page are generated from the inverse of each displayed formula and checked with this site’s sticker model. Open a practice case to see how to set it up.