A 2×2 has no center stickers to anchor the face names. Pick any face as Top, choose one neighboring face as Front, and keep those choices consistent for all six sides.
Why the missing centers matter
On a 3×3, centers identify the faces even while the pieces around them move. A 2×2 has only corner pieces. You can physically rotate the whole cube and still be looking at the same scramble, but a scan needs one fixed coordinate system to describe it.
Choose two neighboring faces
Hold the cube with your chosen Top above your chosen Front. Do not choose opposite faces for this pair. Cube Solver first asks for Top, then walks through Right, Front, Bottom, Left, and Back. Its prompts tell you where the original Top or Front should be while you show each new side.
A useful trick is to name the two colors out loud before you start: “blue Top, orange Front,” for example. The exact colors are not important. Keeping their relationship unchanged is.
Check the full net
Once all six 2×2 faces are entered, look at the unfolded map. A face that seemed correct alone may be rotated relative to its neighbors. If a sticker color was misread, use Edit. If the whole face was held the wrong way, rescan or re-enter it with the original Top and Front orientation.
Cube Solver also has a manual input route, so you can use the guide without the camera. After review, the app validates the state and creates a solution if the entered cube is physically possible.
Choose Top and Front once. Every other face is defined relative to those two choices.
Explore Cube Solver's 2×2 scan flow.