Rubik's Cube Solver (3x3) – 3D, Free, Step by Step
This free Rubik's cube solver works online in any browser: paint the colors of your scrambled 3x3, type its scramble or scan it with your camera, and get a solution of about 20 moves or a seven-stage beginner walkthrough.
Drag to turn the cube. Tap a sticker to paint it; tap it again, right-click or long-press to clear it.
- Paint
- Solve
- Follow
48 stickers left to paint.
Keys 1–6 pick a color.
How to use the Rubik's cube solver
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Copy your cube's colors
Pick a color in the palette and tap stickers on the 3D cube or the flat net until all 54 match your puzzle. The six centers start filled in, with white on top and green in front.
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Or paste a scramble, or scan
Mixed the cube with a written scramble? Paste it into the Scramble tab and press Apply scramble. The camera icon next to the tabs reads the six faces from photos instead.
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Fix anything outlined in red
Solve stays grayed out until the colors form a real cube. Wrong color counts, impossible pieces, twisted corners and flipped edges are outlined, with a message saying what to check.
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Press Solve and pick a type
Fast (≈20 moves) gives a short solution of 21 moves at most. Beginner, step by step splits a longer solution into seven layer-by-layer stages, each with a short explanation.
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Turn along with each move
Hold the cube as the solution requires, then follow the large move tile, the 3D replay or Full screen. Next move and Back step through the sequence one turn at a time.
Paint your cube, paste a scramble or scan it
There are three ways to get your cube into the solver, and they all end on the same editable cube.
- Paint it On the 3D cube tab a tap paints a sticker and dragging turns the cube so you can reach the back; the Flat net tab shows all 54 stickers at once. Keys 1 to 6 choose a color and 0 or E the eraser.
- Paste the scramble If you mixed the cube from solved with a written sequence, paste it into the Scramble tab and press Apply scramble. It reads R, U, F, D, L and B with an optional ′ or 2; slices and rotations are refused with a message that points at the move.
- Scan it The camera icon beside the tabs photographs the six faces in a fixed order. Colors are read on your device with each one forced to appear nine times, and no photo is uploaded. Glare can still swap two similar colors, so check the result before you press Solve.
Why a cube can be impossible: twisted corners, flipped edges, swapped pieces
Only one in twelve ways of assembling a Rubik’s cube can be solved by turning. If a cube was taken apart and put back carelessly, or one sticker was painted wrong, the colors describe one of the other eleven, and no sequence of moves will ever finish it. The solver checks for this before it searches. Solve stays disabled, the stickers to look at are outlined in red, and the message names the reason:
- A twisted corner Every piece is present, but one corner is rotated a third of a turn in place.
- A flipped edge One edge sits in the right spot with its two colors the wrong way round.
- Swapped pieces Exactly two pieces have traded places, which turning alone can never do.
- Pieces that cannot exist A wrong color count, or a corner showing both white and yellow.
Fast or Beginner: two kinds of 3x3 solution
Once the cube is valid, the solution panel offers two answers, and switching between them solves the same cube again.
| Solution type | Fast (≈20 moves) | Beginner, step by step |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 21 moves at most | Around 120 moves on average |
| How you hold the cube | Exactly as you painted it | Yellow on top, front color named in the panel |
| Structure | One continuous sequence | Seven stages, each with a short note |
Beginner mode always shows the same seven stages, from White cross to Twist the yellow corners, and marks a stage your cube already satisfies as done. They match the steps of how to solve a Rubik’s cube, our guide to the same method.
How many moves it takes: God’s number and the two-phase search
A 3x3 has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 positions. In 2010 a computer search proved that every one of them can be solved in 20 moves or fewer, counting a half turn as one move; that bound is called God’s number, and the superflip, with every edge flipped in place, needs all 20.
Fast mode uses Herbert Kociemba’s two-phase algorithm, in the open-source min2phase implementation. Phase one turns the cube until every piece is oriented and the middle-layer edges are in the middle layer. Phase two finishes with a restricted set of turns, using precomputed tables. The search stops at the first solution of 21 moves or fewer instead of spending minutes proving the minimum. It runs in a background worker in your browser.
Following the moves on your real cube
Every move is written for the cube as you hold it. For a Fast solution, hold it the way you painted it; with the default centers that means white on top and green facing you. For Beginner, the panel names the top and front colors. Keep that grip to the end. Each letter names a face, read as if you were looking straight at it:
Press Next move after each turn or Back when unsure; on a phone, Full screen shows one huge move at a time and advances with a tap. Play with this cube sends the position to the virtual Rubik’s cube to rehearse first, and the notation guide explains every letter.
A solver website, not an app: free, private, nothing to install
Everything here is free, with no account and nothing to download, on a phone, tablet or computer. The search and the camera scan both run on your own device, so your cube never leaves it. Copy share link saves an address that holds all 54 stickers.
The same routine works for six more puzzles: the 2x2 Rubik’s cube solver always finds the shortest answer, the 4x4 Rubik’s cube solver works by reduction, and the mirror cube solver reads a cube by the depth of its pieces. The Pyraminx solver, Megaminx solver and Skewb solver cover the other shapes.
Questions about the Rubik's cube solver
What are the 20 moves to solve a Rubik's cube?
There is no fixed list of 20 moves that solves every cube. Twenty is God's number: in 2010 it was proven that any of the 43 quintillion positions can be solved in 20 moves or fewer, counting a half turn as one move. Each scramble needs its own sequence, and Fast mode computes one for the cube you enter, in 21 moves at most.
Can AI solve a Rubik's cube?
Yes. In 2019 researchers trained a neural network, DeepCubeA, that solves the 3x3 without human knowledge, often in the shortest possible number of moves. This solver does not guess, though: it uses Kociemba's two-phase search, an exact algorithm whose answer you can check move by move on the 3D replay.
How do I fix a Rubik's cube that can't be solved?
Find the faulty piece first; the solver outlines it. A twisted corner can usually be turned back by hand on a modern speed cube. A flipped edge or two swapped pieces mean popping pieces out and putting them back correctly. The safest fix is to take the cube apart and reassemble it solved.
How many moves does it take to solve a Rubik's cube on average?
It depends on who solves it. The beginner layer-by-layer method takes around 120 moves, which is what Beginner mode shows. Speedcubers using CFOP average about 55 to 60. A computer needs far fewer: 20 at most, and around 18 for a typical scramble when searched to the minimum.
Does it matter which color is on top when I enter my cube?
No. The centers start as white on top and green in front, but you can repaint them to match however you hold your cube. The solver accepts any real arrangement of centers and writes the Fast solution for the cube held exactly as you entered it, so keep that grip while you follow the moves.
Does switching the center pieces of a Rubik's cube do anything?
Yes, it breaks the cube. Center caps carry only a color, while the edges and corners keep the original scheme, so with two caps swapped those two faces can never become a solid color. The solver reports this as impossible centers, because the painted centers no longer match a real cube. Swap the caps back to fix it.
