How Many Moves Does It Take to Solve a Rubik’s Cube?
Solitaire Craft guide. Updated 13 November 2026.
A standard Rubik’s Cube can be arranged in about 43 quintillion different ways. That number is so large that it looks impossible to solve, and yet the cube can always be solved in a surprisingly small number of turns.
God’s number is 20
Computer searches have shown that every possible position of the cube can be solved in 20 face turns or fewer, counting a half turn as one move. Some positions really need all 20. This is called God’s number. Almost every scramble needs fewer than that.
Beginners use far more
A person solving with a beginner method usually makes around 100 turns or more. The method is built to be easy to remember, not to be short. That is fine, because the goal is to solve it.
Fast solvers average roughly 50 to 60
Speed solvers using the CFOP method typically solve with roughly 50 to 60 turns. They do it so quickly because they make many turns per second, and they plan the next part while they turn.
What the solver on this site does
The Rubik’s Cube Solver uses a two phase search, the idea behind most computer solvers. It finds solutions in the low to mid twenties of turns quickly, which is not always the shortest but is far shorter than a human method.
Try it yourself
The Rubik’s Cube Challenge gives you a scrambled cube made with a known number of turns and a limit on your moves. The par is the exact number of turns used to scramble the cube, and finding it is a good test of your understanding of the cube. If you want to learn to solve the cube, start with the Beginner Guide.