Right face (R)
Turns the layer on your right.
Rubik's Cube Notation
Learn the essential moves visually, one at a time.
Move 01 / 180%
Essentials 0/9
R
Right face · Clockwise
R — Clockwise, seen from the right
Drag the cube to look around it
R
Right face · Clockwise
Turn the Right face clockwise (viewed from the right side).
Common mistake
Turning the whole cube instead of just the Right layer. Only one layer of nine stickers moves.
← → switch moves · R replays
What this move looks like
What this move looks like
All moves in this lesson
About this move
Right face · Red center
- Inverse
- R' undoes it
- Twice
- R R = R2
- Four times
- back to start
More about R
How to do it
A plain letter always means clockwise, as if you were looking straight at that face.
Common mistakes
Turning the whole cube instead of just the Right layer. Only one layer of nine stickers moves.
Related moves
- Inverse: R' undoes it
- Twice: R R = R2
- Four times: back to start
What is Rubik's Cube notation?
Cube notation is the short alphabet cubers use to write down moves. Each letter names one face of the cube — R (Right), U (Up), F (Front), L (Left), D (Down) and B (Back) — and tells you to turn that layer. Once you can read these six letters, every scramble, tutorial and algorithm is readable.
How to read a move
- R — a plain letter means a quarter turn clockwise, judged as if you were looking straight at that face.
- R' — an apostrophe (said “R prime”) means counter-clockwise: the exact inverse, so R then R' puts the cube back.
- R2 — a 2 means a half turn (180°). Direction doesn't matter: R2 is the same as R R or R' R'.
All 18 basic moves
Six faces, three ways to turn each. Open any move in the interactive lesson above to watch it on the 3D cube.
Up face (U)
Turns the top layer.
Front face (F)
Turns the layer facing you.
Left face (L)
Turns the layer on your left.
Down face (D)
Turns the bottom layer.
Back face (B)
Turns the layer at the back.
Wide moves, slices and rotations
The 18 face turns cover beginner methods. Algorithms and bigger cubes add three more kinds of move. The same modifiers apply to all of them: r', M2, y'.
Wide moves
More than one layer at once — how 4×4 and bigger cubes are scrambled.
- Rw / rWide right
- The right face and the layer next to it turn together. WCA scrambles write Rw; many algorithm sheets write a lowercase r. On a 3×3 that is R plus the middle slice.
- Uw / uWide up
- The top two layers together. Big-cube scrambles are mostly wide moves like this.
- 3RwNumbered wide
- On 6×6 and 7×7 the number says how many outer layers turn: 3Rw turns the right three.
Slice moves
Only a middle layer turns. They exist on odd-sized cubes like the 3×3.
- MMiddle
- The layer between L and R. It turns the same direction as L. Common in Roux and in several PLL algorithms.
- EEquator
- The layer between U and D, turning the same direction as D.
- SStanding
- The layer between F and B, turning the same direction as F.
Cube rotations
Turn the whole cube in your hands. Lowercase, and no sticker changes place.
- xWhole cube, like R
- Tilt the entire cube the way R turns. No piece moves relative to the others; you just hold the cube differently.
- yWhole cube, like U
- Spin the entire cube the way U turns. You will see y and y' constantly in F2L algorithms.
- zWhole cube, like F
- Rotate the entire cube the way F turns.
How to read a scramble
A scramble is a list of moves you perform from left to right. Before the first move, hold the cube the way the WCA does: white on top, green facing you. Start in a different orientation and the same scramble produces a different cube, which is the usual reason a cube "doesn't match" the preview.
R U R' U' F2 L D' B2
Out loud: right clockwise, up clockwise, right counter-clockwise, up counter-clockwise, front half turn, left clockwise, down counter-clockwise, back half turn. Go slowly; a single missed prime changes the whole scramble.
Want to practise reading scrambles? Try the Cubeathon scramble generator.
Read your first algorithm
These four moves turn up in a huge number of algorithms. Short, repeated sequences like this are called triggers. Tap a move to see it on the cube.
- R
Right face clockwise: the front of the right layer moves up
- U
Top face clockwise: the front of the top layer moves left
- R'
Right face counter-clockwise: the prime undoes R
- U'
Top face counter-clockwise
Do the four moves six times in a row on a solved cube and it comes back solved.
Notation cheat sheet
- R U F L D B
- Turn that face 90° clockwise, judged looking at that face
- ' (prime)
- Counter-clockwise: R' undoes R
- 2
- Half turn, 180° — either direction
- w or lowercase
- Two layers at once: Rw, r
- 3Rw
- Three outer layers (6×6, 7×7)
- M E S
- Middle slices, following L, D and F
- x y z
- Rotate the whole cube, following R, U and F
- Order
- Read left to right, one move at a time
- Grip
- Scrambles start with white on top, green in front