Abstract In this survey, cordierite glass-ceramic was prepared by melting in a platinum crucible at 1 580 °C. The effects of temperature and heating rate were studied on the nucleation and crystallization. Nucleation and crystallization temperatures were obtained by differential thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that the optimum nucleation and crystallization occurred at 810 and 1 150 °C, respectively. According to the X-ray diffraction patterns, cordierite, rutile, quartz and MgTi2O5 phases were obtained in the crystallized glassceramics. The maximum bending strength of 178 MPa was obtained after the chemical strengthening of the crystallized glass ceramic.