The effect of change in strain path during cold rolling on the evolution of microstructure and texture is investigated. For this purpose, high purity aluminum and Al-2.5%Mg alloy are deformed (∼90% reduction in thickness) by unidirectional and cross cold rolling. Irrespective of the alloy system, copper-type texture is observed in unidirectional processed materials, while strong brass ({011}112) texture is developed during cross rolling. Unidirectionally rolled aluminum showed higher HAGB fraction, but similar HAGB spacing as compared to the cross-rolled aluminum after 90% reduction in thickness. At the same time, the internal misorientation in the cross-rolled 2N-Al is higher than in the unidirectionally rolled material. In contrast, Al-2.5% Mg alloy processed differently in both ways shows similar HAGB fraction, spacing, and internal misorientation distribution. These observations indicate that microstructure evolution due to strain path change is more strongly affected by dynamic recovery as compared to texture evolution. © 2013 ASM International.