How to use the 2x2 Rubik's cube solver
This 2x2 Rubik's cube solver finds the fewest moves that solve your own pocket cube. A 2x2 has no centers, so you can hold it in any grip; just keep the same grip while you enter it and while you follow the moves.
- Pick a color in the palette and tap the stickers that have it, on the flat net or on the 3D cube. Each color needs exactly 4 stickers; the counters show your progress.
- Fill all six faces, turning the whole cube to see each one. The help under the Solve button shows the order.
- Press Solve and follow the moves. The arrow on the 3D cube shows the layer to turn next and its direction.
You can also choose Type a scramble and paste a scramble from a timer app; it is applied to a solved cube held with white on top and green in front.
Shortest possible solutions
A 2x2 cube has 3,674,160 positions once you ignore which way the whole cube is held. That is few enough to check them all. When the page opens, the solver works out, in the background, the exact distance from solved for every one of those positions. Solving your cube then means stepping to a neighboring position that is one move closer, again and again, which gives a solution no other method can beat in the face turn metric (any turn of one face, quarter or half, counts as one move).
The longest any 2x2 position needs is 11 moves, and only 2,644 positions need that many. Most random positions take 8 to 10. The solutions only turn the top, right and front faces (U, R, F), so the back-bottom-left corner never moves; that is why no whole-cube turns are needed. Every solution is replayed on a separate cube model before it is shown, and our tests confirm the length against an independent search.
When the cube cannot be solved
The solver first checks that your colors make a real cube: 4 stickers of each color, every corner a real piece with three different colors that are not opposite each other, each corner exactly once, and the twist rule. A twisted corner is common on 2x2 cubes because corners pop out easily; if the colors are entered correctly and the message still says a corner is twisted, twist that corner back by hand.
A worked example
Type the scramble R U2 F' R2 U' F R' U (8 moves) and press Solve. The answer is 6 moves: R U R U2 F R2. The solver found a shorter route than undoing the scramble.
Tips
- Pinch the back-bottom-left corner with your left hand; the moves never turn it, so your grip stays the same.
- Moves are clockwise as you look straight at that face: R turns the right side up at the front, U turns the top row to the left.
- For the 3x3, use the Rubik's cube solver.
To learn to solve the 2x2 on your own, follow how to solve a 2x2 Rubik's cube: a beginner method in three stages, with every step shown on a 3D cube.
Solver tested . Found a problem? Tell us.
Questions
Is the 2x2 solution really the shortest?
Yes, in the face turn metric, where any quarter or half turn of one face counts as one move. The solver has the exact distance of all 3,674,160 positions, so no shorter solution exists.
What is the most moves a 2x2 can need?
11 moves. Only 2,644 of the 3,674,160 positions need that many; most need 8, 9 or 10.
Which way should I hold my 2x2?
Any way, as long as you keep the same grip while you enter the colors and while you do the moves. The solution never turns the back-bottom-left corner, so you can keep holding that corner.
Why does the solver say a corner is twisted?
Either one corner's stickers were entered on the wrong sides, or a corner on your real cube has been twisted in place, which happens easily on a 2x2. Check that corner's three colors; if they are right, twist the corner back by hand.
Is it free?
Yes, free with no sign-up. Everything runs in your browser and nothing you enter is uploaded.