Rubik's Cube Second Layer: 2 Algorithms, With Pictures

Before you start layer 2

A quick reminder of the names used in the guide: layers are named by colour, not by position. Layer 1 is the layer with the white centre, layer 2 is the middle layer, with just 4 edges to place, and layer 3 is the layer with the yellow centre (on top right now). A sticker is one coloured square on a piece.

Check three things:

• Layer 1 is completely done. The white face has all nine stickers, and the bottom row of every side face matches the centre of that face, making an upside-down T. If a white corner is in the wrong place, go back to the First-layer corners step.
• The yellow centre is on top, with the finished layer 1 (the white face) at the bottom. From now until the cube is solved, the white face always stays on the bottom.
• You can read the notation R, L, U, F, R', U'. The little mark (the prime) means turn that face anticlockwise as you look straight at it. If it is still new to you, read Rubik's Cube notation for beginners first.

In the EasyRubic guide, layer 2 is **step 3**, called "Middle-layer edges" (step 1 is "The white cross", step 2 is "First-layer corners"). In the guide's pictures, the front is the face marked as the one pointing towards you. Keep the front facing you when you compare colours, and keep it that way the whole time you do the algorithm. The picture below shows where you are now and where you need to get to:

Goal: put the 4 edges with no yellow sticker into layer 2, each in its right place and the right way round. Once this step is done, every side face is one colour across its bottom two rows.

Find the right edge to insert

Layer 2 needs four edges, and none of the four has a yellow sticker (they have no white sticker either, because the edges with white are already in the white cross). So the first job is to find a layer 3 edge with no yellow sticker: neither of its two stickers is yellow.

If an edge has a yellow sticker, skip it. It belongs to layer 3, and you will deal with it in a later step.

Once you spot a good one:

1. Look at the side sticker of that edge in layer 3 (the sticker that is not on the top).
2. Turn U until the edge's side sticker matches the front centre: the edge and the centre make an upside-down T. If the T shows up on a different face, turn the whole cube (yellow centre still on top) so that face becomes the front.

Now the piece to insert is the layer 3 edge between the top and the front. It will go down into layer 2, either into the spot between the front and the right, or the spot between the front and the left.

Which case do you have?

Now look at the top sticker of the edge in layer 3 (the edge making the T with the front centre). Its colour tells you where to go:

• Top sticker matches the right centre: insert the edge to the right, into the layer 2 spot between the front and the right.
• Top sticker matches the left centre: insert the edge to the left, into the layer 2 spot between the front and the left.
• The edge is already in layer 2 but wrong: see "When an edge is stuck in layer 2" below.

This is where beginners slip up the most. Do not use the edge's side sticker to choose the direction, because it already matches the front centre. Only the edge's top sticker tells you where it is going.

Second layer algorithm: insert to the right

When the edge's top sticker matches the right centre:

U R U' R' U' F' U F

Before: the green and orange edge is in layer 3, on the front side. Its side sticker is green, matching the front centre. Its top sticker is orange, matching the right centre, so it goes to the right. After: the edge is now in layer 2, between the front and the right, and layer 1 is still whole.

It is easier to remember if you read it as two halves of four moves each:

• First half: U R U' R'
• Second half: U' F' U F

The first half uses your right hand and turns the right face. The second half turns the front. Say each move quietly to yourself as you go, and notice that the two halves have the same rhythm: "top, side, top back, side back".

Second layer algorithm: insert to the left

When the edge's top sticker matches the left centre:

U' L' U L U F U' F'

Before: the green and red edge is in layer 3, on the front side, with a green side sticker. Its top sticker is red, matching the left centre (the hidden face in the picture), so it goes to the left. After: the edge is now in layer 2, between the front and the left. In the picture you can only see its green sticker on the left edge of the front.

To check the red sticker on a real cube, turn the whole cube a quarter turn to the right (yellow centre still on top): the left face will swing round in front of you. When you have had a look, turn it back before doing the algorithm.

Its two halves:

• First half: U' L' U L
• Second half: U F U' F'

Compared with the right-hand algorithm, this one is a mirror image: every R becomes L, and every move turns the other way (moves with a prime lose it, moves without one get it). If you already know the right-hand algorithm, just imagine doing it with your left hand.

J Perm shows the same idea in a different way: turn the top, do a four-move sequence with one hand, then turn the whole cube to the side face and do the four-move sequence with the other hand (J Perm). The algorithm here uses F moves instead of turning the whole cube, so you do not have to change your grip halfway. Both ways give the same result.

Why doesn't the algorithm break layer 1?

While you do it, you will see a white corner get pulled up into layer 3, and the white face will have a gap for a moment. Do not worry, that is part of the algorithm.

Take the right-hand algorithm as an example. The first half U R U' R' moves the edge out of the way, then lifts the white corner between the front and the right up into layer 3. When the first half ends, that white corner and the edge you are inserting sit side by side in layer 3, their stickers matching as a pair. The second half U' F' U F brings the whole pair down at once: the edge goes into layer 2, and the white corner goes back to its old place in layer 1.

The picture below shows the exact middle of the algorithm: after the first half, the white corner and the green and orange edge have become a pair in layer 3, and the white face has a corner missing. Do the second half U' F' U F and the whole pair goes down together.

Ruwix describes the algorithm by its end result: the edge in layer 3, on the front side, goes down into layer 2 without messing up the white face (Ruwix). Two more things: layer 1 comes back whole after both algorithms, and the other three spots in layer 2 are not touched. That means the edges you have already placed are safe.

In the picture below, three other layer 2 edges were already in place before the right-hand algorithm, and after it they are still right where they were:

So if the white face is out of place when you finish, a move was definitely done wrong, usually U mixed up with U' in the middle of the algorithm.

Repeat for all 4 edges

Once one edge is in, find the next layer 3 edge with no yellow sticker and start again: make the T, look at the edge's top sticker, insert it. Each time you may need to turn the whole cube so the new T is on the front, and that is completely normal.

The order does not matter. Insert whichever edge is easiest to spot first.

When an edge is stuck in layer 2

Sometimes layer 3 runs out of edges without yellow, but layer 2 is still not finished. Here is why: the cube has exactly four edges with no yellow and no white sticker, and each one belongs to a spot in layer 2. If none of them is in layer 3, they are all in layer 2, and at least one is stuck in the wrong way in layer 2.

There are two ways it can be wrong:

• Wrong place: the edge is in a spot that is not its own, for example the piece that belongs on the left is sitting on the right.
• Flipped: the edge is in the right place but its two stickers are the wrong way round, so each sticker matches the centre of the other face.

The fix is the same for both: push that edge up into layer 3, then insert it again as normal.

1. Turn the whole cube (yellow centre still on top) so the wrong edge is in layer 2, between the front and the right.
2. Do the right-hand algorithm (the eight moves above) once. The stuck edge gets pushed up into layer 3. At the same time, the spot between the front and the right takes in another edge from layer 3. The edge that just went in might be one with a yellow sticker. You do not need to fix that right away: when you insert the remaining edges, it will get pushed back out.
3. Find the edge that just popped up, turn U until its side sticker matches the front centre (turn the whole cube if needed), then look at the edge's top sticker and insert it as normal.

Flipped edge

With a flipped edge, the first time you do the algorithm it pushes the edge up into layer 3, on the back side. Turn U2 to bring it round to the front, and the second time you do the algorithm it goes back in the right way round. The guide puts the whole thing into one sequence: the right-hand algorithm, turn U2, then the right-hand algorithm again.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

Before: the green and orange edge is in its right place between the front and the right, but the orange sticker faces the front and the green sticker faces the right. After: the same edge, now the right way round, with the rest of layer 1 and layer 2 untouched. Ruwix describes a similar fix: push the edge out by inserting another edge into its spot, which means doing the algorithm twice (Ruwix).

Edge in the wrong place

Example in the picture below: the green and red edge (which belongs between the front and the left) is stuck in the spot between the front and the right. At the same time, the green and orange edge is in layer 3, on the front side, with an orange top sticker: it needs to go right.

Here you only need three steps:

1. Do the right-hand algorithm U R U' R' U' F' U F. The green and orange edge goes into its place, and the green and red edge gets pushed up into layer 3.
2. Turn U2: the green and red edge comes round to the front, its green side sticker makes the T, and its top sticker is red.
3. The top sticker matches the left centre, so do the left-hand algorithm U' L' U L U F U' F'.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

After: both edges are back in their places, and layer 1 is still whole. On a real cube, the edge that gets pushed up might end up in a different spot in layer 3, so the number of U turns might not be U2. Just keep turning until you have the T, then read the top sticker like always.

Common mistakes in layer 2

When the EasyRubic team guides beginners, the mistake we see most is choosing the direction from the side sticker instead of the top sticker.

• Picking an edge with a yellow sticker. The algorithm still works, but you have just pushed a layer 3 piece into layer 2. That piece is now a "stuck in the wrong place" edge; take it out as shown above.
• Choosing the direction from the edge's side sticker. The side sticker is only for making the T with the front centre. The direction always comes from the edge's top sticker.
• Doing the left-hand algorithm for an edge that needs to go right. The edge drops into the spot between the front and the left, the wrong place. Fix it the way shown above.
• Forgetting the first U move. The U (or U') at the start of each algorithm moves the edge out of the way. Leave it out and the algorithm no longer works.
• The edge goes into the right place but its two stickers are the wrong way round. This is the flipped case above. It usually happens because the first U turn did not make a proper T, so the edge's side and top stickers got mixed up.

The two second layer algorithms to remember

Insert to the right: U R U' R' U' F' U F

Insert to the left: U' L' U L U F U' F'

Flipped edge: the right-hand algorithm, U2, then the right-hand algorithm again.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

Practice tip: take a solved cube, do the right-hand algorithm once to lift an edge out, then solve it again yourself. Repeat a few dozen times, switching sides, until your hands do it without thinking. J Perm says that with the beginner method and regular practice, you can solve the whole cube in about 2 to 4 minutes (J Perm).

Video to watch

If you want to see someone's hands doing it, the J Perm video below (in English) is a very popular beginner guide. It inserts the layer 2 edges by turning the whole cube, as mentioned above, so the hand moves may look a little different, but the result is the same.

Next step

With layer 1 and layer 2 done, you are more than halfway there. What is left is layer 3, made up of the steps "The yellow cross", "The yellow face", "Move the yellow corners home" and "Move the yellow edges home". Step 4 "The yellow cross" in the guide is where it starts.

Later on, when you want to solve faster, you will get the hang of placing a white corner and a layer 2 edge at the same time. That is the F2L step of the CFOP method, and the first half and second half of the layer 2 algorithm you just did are your very first taste of it. The post What is CFOP introduces this method.

Stuck partway? With the EasyRubic app, you can scan your real cube with the camera and see the solution step by step on a 3D cube.

Get EasyRubic and finish layer 2 for the first time.

Sources

• How To Solve The Rubik's Cube – Beginners Method (Ruwix)
• How To Solve The 3x3 Rubik's Cube – J Perm