About F2L

Read this before you open the cases page.

What is CFOP?

CFOP (also called the Fridrich Method) is the most widely used speedcubing method. It solves the cube in four steps:

Cross — solve the four edge pieces on the bottom face
F2L — fill the four corner-edge slots above the cross (36 cases)
OLL — orient all pieces on the last layer (57 cases)
PLL — permute all pieces on the last layer (21 cases)

F2L is where most of your solve time goes — typically 40–60% of a full solve. It is also where the biggest gains come from. Learning to solve it efficiently, without breaking the cross, is what separates beginners from intermediate solvers. F2L is learnable intuitively before algorithms — and you should learn it that way first.

Prerequisites

Before learning F2L you should be able to:

Solve a Rubik's cube using any method — beginner layer-by-layer is fine
Consistently solve the cross intuitively, without algorithms
Read WCA move notation (explained below)
Understand that the cross pieces stay solved while you work above them — if you are still accidentally breaking the cross, pause here and practice the cross alone

All cases on this site assume white cross on bottom, yellow on top — the standard CFOP orientation. All algorithms target the front-right (FR) slot. Before starting each pair, rotate the cube so your target slot is at the front-right.

Solve It Before You Memorize It

Every corner-edge pair can be solved without algorithms. Algorithms are shortcuts for moves you would have found yourself. Learning the shortcuts without first understanding what they shortcut produces brittle, ceiling-limited solving — you'll hit a wall around 45–60 seconds that algorithms alone will not break.

The core procedure

Find your corner and its matching edge. They share two non-white colors. The white-red-green corner pairs with the red-green edge.
Bring both pieces to the top layer. If either is in the middle layer, use a trigger to pop it out: R U R' pops the FR corner up; U moves cycle the top layer to bring the edge up.
Pair them in the top layer. "Pairing" means positioning the corner and edge so their shared colors align — the non-white color on the corner faces the same direction as the matching color on the edge. Once paired, they can be inserted together as a unit.
Insert the pair. R U' R' inserts into the right side. F' U F inserts into the front side.

Worked example — white facing up, matched edge (f2l-05)

You see a corner with white on top and its matching edge in the top layer, colors unflipped. Here is the thought process:

Try inserting directly: R U' R' — the corner goes in but the edge is not paired. Undo: R U R'.
The problem is that white is facing up. You need to flip the corner so white will face right before inserting.
Bring the corner out to the side: R U R'. Now the corner is above-right with white facing the U face.
AUF: U' to align edge away. Then R U2 R' to bring the corner back up — now white faces the front.
AUF to align: U'. Now corner white faces right, edge is matched. Insert: R U R'. Wait — too many moves. Replan.
Cleaner: from the start, R U2 R' flips the corner (white now faces R). Then U' aligns edge. Then R U R' inserts. That's R U2 R' U' R U R' — which is exactly the algorithm.

The key takeaway: Once you can solve Easy Cases (f2l-01 and f2l-02) without looking at the algorithm — just instinctively inserting a formed pair — you already understand pairing and insertion. Every other case is a variation on getting both pieces into a pairable position. The algorithms are just efficient paths to that position.

Five Terms You'll See Everywhere

These terms appear throughout the recognition hints and algorithm notes. Define them now.

Trigger: A short, reversible move sequence used as a building block inside larger algorithms. The two fundamental F2L triggers are R U R' and F' U' F. Almost every algorithm in this guide is one or two triggers chained together with setup moves. Recognizing the trigger inside an algorithm lets you learn it as a shape, not a list of moves.
Sexy Move: The informal name for R U R' U' — the single most important sequence in all of speedcubing. You will execute it thousands of times across F2L, OLL, and PLL. It is called "sexy" because of how naturally it flows under the fingers. Its inverse (the "anti-sexy" or "untrigger") is U R U' R'.
AUF: Adjust U Face. A U, U', or U2 move at the start of a case to align pieces with the correct slot before executing the main algorithm. When a recognition hint says "AUF to align," it means: rotate the U face until your piece is above the correct position, then proceed. AUF is not a separate case — it is part of case recognition.
Pairing: Positioning a corner and its matching edge in the top layer so their shared colors face the same direction — the pair is "formed" and can be inserted as one unit. The Easy Cases (f2l-01, f2l-02) start with the pair already formed. All other cases require setup moves to form the pair first.
Flipped Edge: An edge piece that is in the top layer but with its colors facing the wrong way: the non-white color faces up (toward the U face) instead of sideways (toward the side face). Practical test: look at the edge from above — if you can see your slot's side color on the top face, the edge is flipped. Flipped edges require one extra trigger to orient before pairing.

Move Notation

Every algorithm uses standard WCA notation. Read algorithms left to right — each token is one move, executed in sequence.

Face moves

Each letter names a face. A plain letter = 90° clockwise. Prime (') = counter-clockwise. 2 = 180°.

U — Up

Top face, clockwise

R — Right

Right face, clockwise

F — Front

Front face, clockwise

L — Left

Left face, clockwise

B — Back

Back face, clockwise

D — Down

Bottom face, clockwise

Modifiers

Prime ( ' )

Counter-clockwise 90°

Double ( 2 )

Half turn, 180°

Direction convention: "Clockwise" always means clockwise when you are looking directly at that face from outside the cube. U clockwise moves the front-right corner of the top layer away from you. R clockwise moves the front-right corner of the right face upward. B and D are the most confusing — B clockwise moves the top of the back face to the right (from your perspective looking at the back); D clockwise is like U but inverted.

Rotations (x, y, z)

Rotations move the entire cube in your hands without changing any pieces relative to each other. They redefine which face is "Front" and "Right." In F2L you will mostly see y — rotating to bring a different slot to the front-right.

Move	Axis	Effect	Common use
`y`	Up–Down	Front face becomes Left	Rotate to reach a different F2L slot
`y'`	Up–Down	Front face becomes Right	Rotate the other way
`x`	Right–Left	Front face tilts down	Rare in F2L; used in some OLL algs
`x'`	Right–Left	Front face tilts up	Same
`z`	Front–Back	Top face tilts right	Rare in standard F2L

Slice moves (M, S, E)

Slice moves turn the middle layer between two face layers. They do not appear in this site's F2L algorithms, but you will encounter them in OLL and PLL resources. Listed here for completeness.

Move	Middle layer	Equivalent to
`M`	Between L and R	L direction
`S`	Between F and B	F direction
`E`	Between U and D	D direction

How F2L Works

The first two layers of a solved cube contain four corner-edge slots. Each slot is named for its position: FR (front-right), FL (front-left), BR (back-right), BL (back-left). Each slot holds one corner and one edge that share two colors.

The goal is to fill all four slots without disturbing the cross. You work one slot at a time, rotating the cube so your target slot is always at front-right before starting.

Each of the 36 cases describes a unique position and orientation of one corner-edge pair relative to its slot. The case determines the most efficient sequence to insert it. The key insight is that every insertion uses the same two moves at its core — either R U' R' (right-side insert) or F' U F (front-side insert). Every algorithm is just setup moves that get the pair into a position where one of those inserts works cleanly.

Recommended Learning Order

Work through groups in this sequence. Within each group, learn the cases that appear most often first — frequency is a better guide than difficulty when you're starting out.

Easy Cases 4 cases

Pair already formed — just insert. These are intuitive. Master them without looking at the algorithm before touching any other group.
Both in Top — white right & front 6 cases

f2l-06 through f2l-13 (white-right/front subgroup). One or two triggers. The most common cases you'll encounter during a real solve. Learn these before tackling white-up.
Both in Top — white up 7 cases

White sticker faces the ceiling. The corner needs to be flipped before inserting, requiring one extra trigger. Harder recognition but very common.
Both in Top — awkward diagonals 4 cases

Pieces are on opposite sides of the top layer and require longer setup moves. Learn these last within the both-in-top group.
Corner in Top 8 cases

Corner is free in the top layer; the edge is already in a middle slot. Often short algorithms — f2l-28 and f2l-29 are only 3 moves each.
Corner in Slot 8 cases

Corner is already placed in the slot (correctly or not); edge needs to come from the top. The extraction pattern takes time to internalize — practice these on a physical cube.
Advanced 3 cases

Both pieces are stuck in middle slots. Requires extraction of both before pairing and inserting. Learn these last — they are rare during a typical solve.

How to Use This Site

Each case card on the cases page shows a 3D cube set up in the starting position for that case. Press Play to watch the algorithm execute from that state. Press Reset to return to the case position.

The Setup scramble on each card shows the exact sequence to apply to a fully solved cube to reach that case state on a physical cube. Use it to practice on hardware.

In Learning Mode (the default), recognition hints are visible on every card. Switch to Reference Mode using the toggle in the filter bar if you already know the cases and just want to look up an algorithm quickly.

When you can recognize and execute a case without reading the algorithm, press Mark as Learned. Progress is saved in your browser. The recognition hint collapses automatically when you mark a case learned — a small signal that you no longer need it.