How to solve a Rubik's Cube: the beginner's layer-by-layer method, step by step

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The layer-by-layer method is how most people solve a Rubik's Cube for the first time. You build the cube from the bottom up: a white cross, the white corners, the middle layer, then the yellow face last. It needs only a handful of short algorithms, and once it clicks you can solve any scramble, usually in a few minutes at first.

Before you start

Centres never move relative to each other. The centre colour of each face tells you what colour that face will be. White is opposite yellow on a standard colour scheme.
Notation: R, L, U, D, F and B mean a quarter turn of the right, left, up, down, front and back face, clockwise as if you were looking straight at that face. A prime (R') is anticlockwise; a 2 (U2) is a half turn.
Hold the cube the same way through each algorithm. Do not rotate it in the middle of a sequence.

Step 1: the white cross

Make a plus sign of white edges around the white centre, with each edge's other colour matching the centre beside it. This step is intuitive. A common trick is the daisy: put the four white edges around the yellow centre first, then turn each one until its side colour matches a centre, and turn that face twice (F2, for example) to bring it down to the white side.

Step 2: the white corners

Turn the cube over so white is on the bottom. Find a white corner in the top layer, then turn U until it sits directly above the slot it belongs in, between the two centres that match its other colours. Hold the cube so that slot is at the front-right, and repeat: R U R' U' Keep repeating it until the corner drops in with white facing down. It may take one go or as many as five. If a white corner is already in the bottom layer but in the wrong place or twisted, do the sequence once to lift it into the top layer, then carry on as normal.

Step 3: the middle layer edges

Keep white on the bottom. Find an edge in the top layer with no yellow on it. Turn U until its front colour matches the front centre, making an upside-down T. Look at its top colour:

If it matches the right centre: U R U' R' U' F' U F
If it matches the left centre: U' L' U L U F U' F'

If a middle edge is stuck in the wrong slot or flipped, insert any top edge into that slot to push it out, then solve it properly.

Step 4: the yellow cross

Now look at the yellow face on top. Ignore the corners. You will see a dot, an L shape, a line or a finished cross. Use: F R U R' U' F'

Dot: do it once, and you get an L or a line.
L shape: hold it so the two yellow edges point to the back and the left, then do it.
Line: hold it horizontally (left to right), then do it.

Step 5: match the yellow edges

Turn U until at least two yellow edges match their side centres. If the two that need swapping are at the front and left, do: R U R' U R U2 R' U If the matched ones are opposite each other, do it once from any angle, find the new adjacent pair and do it again.

Step 6: put the yellow corners in place

Find a corner already in its correct spot, even if it is twisted (its three colours belong between those three centres). Hold it at the front-right of the top layer and do: U R U' L' U R' U' L Repeat until all four corners are in the right place. If none is correct, do it once from anywhere first.

Step 7: twist the yellow corners

Hold the cube with yellow on top and an unfinished corner at the front-right. Repeat R' D' R D until that corner shows yellow on top; it takes two or four repeats. The rest of the cube will look scrambled. That is normal: do not panic and do not rotate the cube. Turn only the top layer (U) to bring the next unfinished corner to the front-right, and repeat. When the last corner is twisted, the cube comes back. A final U turn may be needed.

When it goes wrong

Most failures come from rotating the cube during step 7, or from mixing up a prime. Write the algorithms on a card and say them aloud as you turn. Once you can solve it without the card, timing yourself is the natural next step. Which step gave you the most trouble? Ask about it, or post your first solve time, in the comments.