Step 1: How to Solve the White Cross

Learn how to solve the white cross on a Rubik's Cube using the beginner-friendly daisy method. Step-by-step guide with tips for getting all four edges aligned.

The white cross is the very first thing you solve when learning the layer-by-layer method. It sounds simple enough, just get a plus sign on the white face, but there is a catch that trips up almost every beginner: the cross has to be aligned. Each white edge piece must also have its side color matching the center of the face next to it. Get that right, and everything else builds cleanly on top.

The good news is that there is a reliable, beginner-friendly approach called the daisy method, and you do not need to memorize a single algorithm to use it. A bit of pattern recognition and four simple moves per edge are all it takes.

What "Solving the White Cross" Actually Means

Before touching the cube, it helps to understand what you are aiming for.

The white cross consists of four white edge pieces arranged around the white center. An edge piece has two colors, white on one side and one other color (red, blue, orange, or green) on the other. When the cross is solved correctly:

All four white edges sit on the white face, forming a plus sign.
Each edge's second color lines up with the center of the adjacent side face.

That second point is what people miss. You can have a white plus on the bottom and still have the wrong edges in the wrong slots. For example, if the white-red edge is sitting next to the blue center, you will run into trouble on every step that follows.

Why Centers Are Your Guide

Centers never move. No matter how many turns you make, the red center always stays opposite the orange center, and the blue center always stays opposite the green center. This means the centers tell you exactly where each edge piece belongs. The white-blue edge always goes next to the blue center; the white-red edge always goes next to the red center. Keep this in mind and the white cross becomes a navigation problem, not a memorization one.

The Daisy Method: An Overview

The daisy method is a two-phase approach that makes the white cross easier to build without accidentally disturbing work you have already done.

Phase 1, Build the daisy. Hold the cube so the yellow center is on top. Move all four white edges up to the top layer so they surround the yellow center. The result looks like a flower: yellow in the middle, four white petals around it. The order and alignment do not matter yet.

Phase 2, Drop each edge into place. Rotate the top layer (the U face) until one white edge's side color lines up with the matching side center beneath it. Then turn that side face 180° to send the edge down to the bottom where it belongs. Repeat for each of the four edges.

That is the entire method. Two phases, no algorithms, and you end up with a proper aligned white cross on the bottom face.

Step-by-Step: Building the Daisy

Start with the white center on the bottom, yellow center on top. Your goal in this phase is to get all four white edges surrounding the yellow center on the top face. Here is how to think through it:

Scan for white edges. Look at all twelve edge pieces and find the ones with white on them. Ignore the white corners for now, edges only.
Bring edges up to the top layer. Most white edges will not be in the top layer yet. Here are the common situations:

If a white edge is in the middle layer, use a simple one or two-move sequence to push it up: turn the side face so the edge pops into the top layer (e.g., R U R' lifts the right-middle edge up and to the back).
If a white edge is on the bottom face (white facing down), turn the bottom layer until that edge is under an open top-layer slot, then turn the relevant side face twice (F2, R2, etc.) to send it straight up.

Avoid covering white edges already on top. As you bring up each new edge, check that the U layer move will not knock out a white edge you placed earlier. If it will, rotate U first to move the finished petal out of the way.
Repeat until you have four white petals. The daisy is complete when all four edges with white on them are in the top layer, arranged around the yellow center. They will look like a flower, hence the name.

Do not worry about which white edge is in which spot on the daisy. That gets sorted in the next phase.

Step-by-Step: Turning the Daisy into a Cross

Now you will drop each petal down to the correct position on the bottom layer.

Look at a white edge in the daisy. Note its side color, the color that is not white. For example, if the edge shows white on top and red on the front, it belongs next to the red center.
Turn the top layer (U) until that edge's side color lines up with the matching center. So if the edge shows red, rotate U until the red side of that edge is directly above the red center face.
Turn the front face 180°. With the matching center at the front, do F2. The edge drops straight down to the bottom layer and snaps into its correct slot with white facing down and the side color flush with the red face.
Repeat for the remaining three edges. After each F2 (or R2, L2, B2, whichever side you are working on), check the next petal, match it up, and drop it in. Be careful not to disturb edges already placed on the bottom; rotating U only affects the top layer, so the bottom is safe as long as you are only using U and the current side-face move.
Check the result. Flip the cube over so white is on the bottom. You should see a white plus sign with each arm's neighbor color matching the center beside it. If one edge is in the wrong place, say, the white-blue edge ended up next to green, that edge needs to come back up and be repositioned. (Just do F2 again on the wrong face to return it to the daisy, then redo the alignment step.)

Common Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

The cross looks right but one edge is flipped

If a white edge sits in the correct slot but with white facing outward instead of down, it is flipped. This happens when you accidentally insert an edge sideways. To fix it: use F2 to bring it back up as a daisy petal, then use a side move to flip it before sending it back down. A simple way: with the flipped edge at the front-bottom, do F R' D' R F to reorient it, or just displace it with F2, reposition in the top, and drop it in cleanly.

Building the daisy disturbs earlier petals

This is the most common frustration. The fix is habit: before every move to bring a new edge up, glance at the top layer and use a U rotation to park finished petals away from the working area. They cannot fall off U by accident, only by a side move on their face.

Two edges look identical in the daisy

It can be hard to tell white-red from white-orange if you are moving fast. Slow down and check both colors of each edge before deciding where it goes. Mis-routing one edge costs you a correction step later.

What Comes Next

Once the white cross is solid and aligned, you move on to solving the first-layer corners. That step fills in the four corners around the white face to complete the full first layer. After that, the middle layer edges go in, and from there you are more than halfway done.

It is worth pausing here to double-check your cross before moving on. A misaligned edge at this stage creates compounding errors later and forces you to undo more work than you want to. Thirty seconds of checking now saves several minutes of backtracking.

FAQ

Do I have to keep white on the bottom?

Technically, you could build the cross on any face, but the layer-by-layer method is designed around white on the bottom. Once you finish the white cross, every subsequent step builds upward toward yellow. Keeping white down from this point on makes the later steps much easier to follow and visualize.

What if I can't find a white edge piece?

If you genuinely cannot spot a white edge after scanning all twelve edges, one may be stuck in a spot that looks unusual, for example, with white facing a side rather than up or down. Look along the middle layer and the top layer carefully. Every cube has four white edges; none disappear.

Can I solve the cross without the daisy method?

Yes. Some beginners prefer to place edges directly onto the white face without going through the top-layer daisy phase. This works fine but requires more spatial thinking early on, because every move risks disturbing edges you have already placed. The daisy method sidesteps that problem by keeping work-in-progress at the top where it is out of the way.

How many moves does it take?

For beginners, eight to twenty moves per edge is normal, which adds up to roughly thirty to sixty total moves for all four edges. With practice, you will start to spot shortcuts, for instance, a white edge that is already close to its target slot can often be placed in two or three moves. Experienced solvers do the cross in eight moves or fewer for the whole thing, but that kind of efficiency is not the goal here. Clean and correct beats fast every time when you are learning.

Do I need to memorize any algorithms for the white cross?

No. The daisy method relies on simple intuition: spot a white edge, bring it to the top, match the side color to its center, and turn the face 180°. The only move that might feel like an algorithm is the occasional R U R' or F U F' to extract a middle-layer edge, and those are easy to pick up by feel after a few tries.