What is CFOP?

CFOP is the world’s most popular speedsolving method — most top solvers use it (Roux and ZZ are the main alternatives). The name spells out the four steps in order: Cross, F2L, OLL, PLL. You take a scrambled cube and pass it through four checkpoints. That’s it.

The four steps

• Cross — solve the four edges of one face (the bottom). Intuitive, no algorithms. ~7 moves.
• F2L — First Two Layers. Pair a corner with its edge, slot the pair into place. Repeat 4 times. Intuitive, then algorithmic. ~30 moves.
• OLL — Orient Last Layer. Make the top face one solid color. One algorithm from 57. ~10 moves.
• PLL — Permute Last Layer. Move the top pieces to their correct spots. One algorithm from 21. ~12 moves.

A full CFOP solve takes ~55–60 moves. World-class is sub-7 seconds. Sub-20 is a realistic goal for most learners.

Why not just solve layer by layer?

The beginner method (“layer by layer”, LBL) solves layer 1, then layer 2, then layer 3. F2L is the breakthrough: it solves layers 1 and 2 at the same time by inserting corner-edge pairs together. Same number of pieces, half the steps, way faster execution.

CFOP also separates the last layer into orient then permute. Each phase has a finite, learnable set of cases. You’re never improvising at the end.