Every Rubik's Cube tutorial uses the same shorthand for moves. Once you know it, you can read any algorithm. Here's everything in five minutes.
The six face turns
Each letter means "turn that face a quarter-turn clockwise, looking straight at it":
- R — Right face
- L — Left face
- U — Up (top) face
- D — Down (bottom) face
- F — Front face
- B — Back face
Prime (') means counter-clockwise
A little mark after the letter reverses the direction:
- R turns the right face clockwise.
- R' ("R prime") turns it counter-clockwise.
So R followed by R' cancels out — the cube ends up unchanged.
The number 2 means a half turn
- R2 turns the right face 180° (a double turn). Direction doesn't matter for a half turn.
Wide and slice moves (for later)
Once you move past the beginner method you'll see two more kinds:
- Wide turns —
Rw(or lowercaser) turns the right face and the middle layer next to it. - Slice turns —
M,E, andSturn just a middle layer.Mfollows the Left face's direction,Efollows Down,Sfollows Front.
Reading an algorithm
Put it together and an algorithm like the T-perm reads move by move:
R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'
Just do each move in order. That's all notation is.
See notation in motion
The fastest way to get notation is to watch it. In Cuby, open the Enter moves tab, type any sequence, and the 3D cube performs it as you go — including wide and slice moves.