No yellow stickers on top. Corners are twisted such that no yellow shows up anywhere on the U face.
RU2R2FRF'U2R'FRF'
P 1/54 11 moves
CFOP · Step 3
OLL Algorithms
Practical OLL algorithm reference for the Rubik's Cube, covering 2-look OLL and high-value one-look cases with recognition hints.
57 cases in this reference
What OLL does — and what it doesn't
Orientation of the Last Layer (OLL) is the third step of CFOP. After the cross and F2L, every last-layer piece is in its layer but facing the wrong way: edges are flipped, corners are twisted. OLL's one job is to fix that facing so the entire top face becomes a single solid colour.
Here is the trap Dan Harris warns about in Speedsolving the Cube: OLL solves the top face, not the top layer. When the yellow face is complete the side stickers are almost always still scrambled — sorting those out is PLL's job, the final step. Splitting orientation (OLL) from permutation (PLL) is exactly what makes the last layer learnable: you read one pattern, fire one algorithm, then read the next.
Start here: 2-look OLL
You don't need all 57 algorithms to finish a cube today. 2-look OLL splits the job into two easy looks — make the yellow cross, then orient the corners — and reaches a complete last layer in about 10 algorithms. This is the on-ramp every full-OLL solver started on, and the cases live inside the full 57 below.
Look 1 — make the yellow cross
Ignore the corners and look only at the four edge stickers on top. They fall into three shapes, each with one algorithm. Fire it and the yellow cross appears; the corners come next.
F R U R' U' F', is your single most-used OLL.Look 2 — orient the corners (OCLL)
With the cross done you are always in one of these seven cases — the corners are the only thing left. You can solve every one of them with just two algorithms, Sune and Antisune, repeated as needed. Learn those two first; the other five are faster shortcuts you can add later.
Recognition: read the edges first
Fast OLL is fast recognition. The universal first move is to glance at the four edge stickers on top and count how many already point up — that one number narrows 57 cases to a small family.
Once the edges are classified, the outline of the connected yellow region names the exact case. Harris sorts the 57 into a visual vocabulary — dot, T, C, P, L, W, fish, lightning, square, knight-move — so recognition becomes "which silhouette is this?" rather than memorising 57 flashcards. The family filters on the grid below use these same names.
One honest caveat from the book: the OLL case numbers look random because they're grouped for a sensible learning order, not for recognition. Never try to recognise a case by its number — recognise the shape, then disambiguate by where the corner stickers point.
All 57 cases
The complete reference. Filter by 2-look, full OLL, or shape family. Each card shows an exact recognition diagram and a verified algorithm you can copy.
No yellow on top. Two yellow corner stickers face front, two face back — symmetric pattern.
FRUR'U'F'fRUR'U'f'
P 1/54 12 moves
No yellow on top. Corners create an asymmetric pattern with two yellow stickers visible on each side.
fRUR'U'f'U'FRUR'U'F'
P 1/54 13 moves
No yellow on top. Mirror image of OLL 3.
fRUR'U'f'UFRUR'U'F'
P 1/54 13 moves
Two yellow stickers on top form a 2x1 square in the front-right corner of the U face.
r'U2RUR'Ur
P 1/54 7 moves
Mirror of OLL 5. Two yellow stickers form a 2x1 square in the front-left corner.
rU2R'U'RU'r'
P 1/54 7 moves
Three yellow stickers form a fish-shaped pattern with a small lightning bolt motif.
rUR'URU2r'
P 1/54 7 moves
Mirror of OLL 7. Same fish-lightning pattern reflected.
r'U'RU'R'U2r
P 1/54 7 moves
Awkward fish-shaped yellow pattern. One corner on top with edges flipped awkwardly.
RUR'U'R'FR2UR'U'F'
P 1/54 11 moves
P-shaped fish pattern. One corner on top with a P-shape in yellow.
RUR'UR'FRF'RU2R'
P 1/54 11 moves
Lightning-bolt-shaped yellow pattern across the U face.
r'R2UR'URU2R'UM'
P 1/54 10 moves
Mirror of OLL 11.
M'R'U'RU'R'U2RU'Rr'
P 1/54 11 moves
Yellow stickers form a knight-move L pattern on top.
FURU'R2F'RURU'R'
P 1/54 11 moves
Mirror of OLL 13.
R'FRUR'F'RFU'F'
P 1/54 10 moves
Another knight-move L variant.
l'U'lL'U'LUl'Ul
P 1/54 10 moves
Mirror of OLL 15.
rUr'RUR'U'rU'r'
P 1/54 10 moves
Two opposite corners oriented (yellow up). No yellow edges on top.
RUR'UR'FRF'U2R'FRF'
P 1/54 13 moves
Dot pattern with a Y-shaped yellow distribution.
FRUR'Uy'R'U2R'FRF'
P 1/54 12 moves
Dot pattern with a small cross-like yellow distribution.
MURUR'U'M'R'FRF'
P 1/54 11 moves
Bar-shaped pattern with yellow stickers forming a wide I across the top — only the center is solved.
MURUR'U'M2URU'r'
P 1/108 11 moves
Yellow cross present. All four corners twisted, creating a symmetric H-shaped pattern.
RUR'URU'R'URU2R'
P 1/108 11 moves
Yellow cross present. Corner pattern resembles Pi — two pairs of facing corners.
RU2R2U'R2U'R2U2R
P 1/54 9 moves
Yellow cross. Two adjacent corners oriented. The two corners NOT on top show matching colors (headlights).
R2DR'U2RD'R'U2R'
P 1/54 9 moves
Yellow cross. Two adjacent corners oriented. Yellow visible on the front-right.
rUR'U'r'FRF'
P 1/54 8 moves
Yellow cross. Two diagonal corners oriented. Pattern resembles a bowtie.
F'rUR'U'r'FR
P 1/54 8 moves
Yellow cross. One yellow corner on top at back-left. The classic Anti-Sune pattern.
RU2R'U'RU'R'
P 2/27 7 moves
Yellow cross. One yellow corner on top at front-left. The classic Sune pattern.
RUR'URU2R'
P 2/27 7 moves
All four corners oriented (yellow up). Two opposite edges remain to be flipped.
M'U'MU2M'U'M
P 1/54 7 moves
Awkward-shaped yellow pattern combining a corner with an asymmetric edge configuration.
RUR'U'RU'R'F'U'FRUR'
P 1/54 13 moves
Mirror of OLL 29.
FR'FR2U'R'U'RUR'F2
P 1/54 11 moves
P-shaped yellow distribution with one corner oriented.
R'U'FURU'R'F'R
P 1/54 9 moves
Mirror of OLL 31.
LUF'U'L'ULFL'
P 1/54 9 moves
T-shaped yellow pattern. Two adjacent corners oriented and one edge between them.
RUR'U'R'FRF'
P 1/54 8 moves
C-shaped yellow pattern with two adjacent corners oriented.
RUR2U'R'FRURU'F'
P 1/54 11 moves
Fish-shaped pattern with square symmetry. One corner on top.
RU2R2FRF'RU2R'
P 1/54 9 moves
W-shaped yellow pattern, also known as Wario.
L'U'LU'L'ULULF'L'F
P 1/54 12 moves
Fish pattern with the fin mounted at the top-left. One corner oriented.
FR'F'RURU'R'
P 1/54 8 moves
Mirror of OLL 36, known as Mario.
RUR'URU'R'U'R'FRF'
P 1/54 12 moves
Big lightning bolt yellow pattern.
LF'L'U'LUFU'L'
P 1/54 9 moves
Mirror of OLL 39.
R'FRUR'U'F'UR
P 1/54 9 moves
Combination of Sune corner pattern with an awkward edge configuration.
RUR'URU2R'FRUR'U'F'
P 1/54 13 moves
Combination of Anti-Sune corner pattern with an awkward edge configuration.
R'U'RU'R'U2RFRUR'U'F'
P 1/54 13 moves
P-shape with the bar on the left side of the top face. No corners oriented.
f'L'U'LUf
P 1/54 6 moves
P-shape with the bar on the right side of the top face. No corners oriented.
fRUR'U'f'
P 1/54 6 moves
Inverted T shape with all edges oriented except two. No corners oriented.
FRUR'U'F'
P 1/54 6 moves
C-shape yellow pattern with no corners oriented.
R'U'R'FRF'UR
P 1/54 8 moves
Big L-shape with two adjacent corners oriented and L pattern in yellow.
F'L'U'LUL'U'LUF
P 1/54 10 moves
Mirror of OLL 47.
FRUR'U'RUR'U'F'
P 1/54 10 moves
Diagonal L with two diagonal corners oriented.
R'FR'F'R2U2yR'FRF'
P 1/54 11 moves
L-shape with slash-like yellow distribution.
R'FR2B'R2F'R2BR'
P 1/54 9 moves
I-shape with a horizontal bar of yellow across the top.
fRUR'U'RUR'U'f'
P 1/54 10 moves
I-shape variant with one corner oriented.
RUR'URd'RU'R'F'
P 1/54 10 moves
Knight L pattern with two diagonal corners oriented.
l'U'LU'L'ULU'L'U2l
P 1/54 11 moves
Mirror of OLL 53.
rUR'URU'R'URU2r'
P 1/54 11 moves
Horizontal yellow line across the top with two diagonal corners oriented.
RU2R2U'RU'R'U2FRF'
P 1/54 11 moves
Vertical yellow line with two diagonal corners oriented.
FRUR'U'RF'rUR'U'r'
P 1/54 12 moves
All four corners oriented (yellow up). Two opposite edges remain to be flipped — same as OLL 28 but rotated.
RUR'U'M'URU'r'
P 1/54 9 moves
Common mistakes
Practise with your hands
Going further
OLL is one rung on a longer ladder. The full progression, all sourced from Harris:
- 2-look OLL (10 algs) → full OLL (57) — orient the whole top face in one algorithm.
- VHF2L — orient all last-layer edges during your final F2L pair (Harris co-created it). You then always reach the last layer with the cross already done, so OLL collapses to just the 7-case OCLL set, every solve.
- COLL — orient and permute the corners in one step once edges are oriented (~40 cases), giving a 1-in-12 chance of skipping PLL entirely.
- ZBLL — solve the entire last layer in a single algorithm. Hundreds of cases; the frontier.
Harris is honest that each rung is a recognition-and-memory investment more than an instant time cut — but together they're the complete last-layer endgame.
PLL Algorithms
Complete the last layer with all 21 PLL cases
ReferenceCFOP Introduction
Understand how OLL fits into the full CFOP method