The cross is the only CFOP step with no algorithms at all, yet it’s the one that best separates an average cuber from a good one. It takes just a few moves, with your eyes already on what comes next. Here’s how to get there.

What you’re aiming for

The four white edges around the white centre, each one lined up with the centre of its second colour: the white-green edge under the green centre, the white-red edge under the red centre, and so on. A cross whose edges show white on the face but are offset on the sides isn’t finished: you’d have to turn the bottom face, which undoes part of the work.

Finished cross
Shifted by one D turn

Seen from below. On the left, the finished cross: each edge under the centre of its second colour. On the right, the same edges shifted by a quarter turn: the side colours no longer match the centres, so it isn't finished.

Open the “Cross” step in the app

White on the bottom, from the start

With the beginner method, people often solve the cross with white on top so they can see it. In CFOP you solve it white on the bottom: the rest of the solve happens on the top and the sides, and not having to flip the cube after the cross saves time and, above all, attention.

Make the switch in three stages:

  1. Solve the cross white on top as usual, then flip the cube (z2 or x2). Notice where the white edges sit relative to the cross once it’s on the bottom.
  2. Solve the cross white on the bottom, allowing yourself to tilt the cube to look underneath. You’re trying to work out where each edge goes without seeing it.
  3. Stop yourself from tilting the cube. You’ll mess up a few crosses at first; within a week it stops happening.

A tip that helps: a white edge seen from the side (its white on a side face) tells you where it is without you seeing the white from below. And an edge whose second colour you can see on top, next to the white centre on the bottom… its white has to be underneath.

The four situations for an edge

Wherever a white edge is, there are only four situations:

  • In the top layer, white facing up: turn U to put it above its centre, then a half turn of that face (F2, R2…) brings it down into place.
  • In the top layer, white on the side: you have to flip it on the way. For example, edge at the top front, white facing you and green on top, green centre in front: U' R' F R. The idea is to bring it next to its spot (here in the middle layer, on the right), then fold it down with a quarter turn, and fix whatever the detour moved.
  • In the middle layer: a quarter turn of the face that holds it brings it straight down, if its white faces down after that quarter turn. Otherwise, bring it up to the top first.
  • On the bottom, flipped or in the wrong place: bring it back up (a half turn of that face) and treat it as a top-layer edge.
On top, white up: F2
On top, white on the side: U' R' F R
In the middle, white on the right: F
On the bottom, flipped

The white-green edge in each of the four situations, with the other three already solved (seen from below for the last one). Only the cross edges are in colour.

Open the “Cross” step in the app
Start
U'
R'
F
R

U' R' F R move by move: the edge moves to the right, drops into the middle layer, folds down to the bottom, and R puts back the right-hand edge that R' had moved.

Open the “Cross” step in the app

Don’t learn this as algorithms. Take a scrambled cube, find a white edge, and ask yourself “where does it need to go, and which move gets it there without breaking what I’ve already done?” The cross is that reasoning repeated four times, faster and faster.

Aim for eight moves, then six

Any cross can be solved in eight moves or fewer, whatever the starting position. In practice, good crosses take five to seven. To get there:

  • Place two edges at once when you can: a quarter turn of one face moves two edges.
  • Don’t fixate on colour order. Start with the easiest edge to place, not with green.
  • Think relative: if three edges are already lined up with each other but offset from the centres, one D turn at the end fixes it. Place the edges relative to each other, and align everything last.
  • Break to rebuild: an edge that’s already placed can be moved temporarily by a move that places another one, as long as the next move puts it back. At first you’ll avoid this; later it becomes second nature.

Planning during inspection

In competition you get fifteen seconds to look at the cube before starting the timer. An experienced cuber plans the whole cross in that time, and often the first F2L pair too. To practise:

  1. Scramble, put the cube down, and look at it for fifteen seconds without touching it. Find the four white edges and visualise the sequence of moves that makes the cross.
  2. Execute it with your eyes closed. Open your eyes: is the cross done?
  3. If not, find the mistake: a forgotten edge, a move you visualised wrong. Try again.

It’s hard at first, and that’s normal. Start by planning two edges, then three, then four. Closing your eyes is the key: it forces you to see everything in advance instead of looking as you go.

Flowing into the first pair

The last move of the cross isn’t the end: it’s the start of F2L. While you’re doing the last few moves of the cross, already look for a white corner on top and its edge. If you get to choose your cross colour (some cubers learn to solve it on two colours, white and yellow, to have more options), this is also where that pays off.

In the app, the “Cross” step of the CFOP Journey is the same as in the beginner method: if you’ve already mastered it, go straight to F2L, but apply the advice on this page on your physical cube every time you solve. Repetition is what makes the cross invisible.