How to Cross Your Eyes

Last Updated: May 3, 2022 Tested

Want to annoy your parents, amuse your friends, or add a little something extra to your comedy routine? "Crossing" your eyes (angling them inward toward the center of your face), is a fun, easy trick that never fails to get a reaction of some kind. And, contrary to what your parents or teachers may tell you, your eyes will not get stuck in a crossed position.^{[1]
X
Research source} If you want to know how to cross your eyes and start freaking people out, see Step 1 to get going.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Focusing on Your Nose

1
Focus both your eyes on the tip of your nose. Slowly lower your gaze until both of your eyes are focused on the tip of your nose. This may cause a bit of an eye strain, since you're probably not used to using your eye muscles this way. Though you won't be able to see it yourself, your eyes should now be crossed. But this is no fun so far -- since you're looking down, no one else can see that your eyes are crossed.
2
Move your gaze upward. This part is tricky. Once you've mastered looking at the tip of your nose, you should slowly move your gaze upward, as if you were staring straight ahead, while trying to keep your eyes angled inward, just as they were when you were concentrating on staring at the tip of your nose.

Advertisement
3
Practice, practice, practice. You will probably find it difficult to keep your eyes crossed once you stop focusing on your nose. Crossing your eyes is a very natural technique that allows you to focus on something that is very near you, and as soon as you bring your eyes away from that object (in this case, your nose), your brain will automatically try to refocus your eyes on more distant objects, thereby uncrossing your eyes almost immediately. You can, however, control your eye muscles to stay out of focus, but it may take some practice. Don't forget to keep your eyes open, so anyone can see your cross-eyed face!
4
Get help from a friend. If you really want to master eye crossing, then you should have a friend there to watch you do it, so you can make sure you're really doing it successfully. If you look up at your friend and the friend says, "Ew!" or makes a gross face, then chances are that yeah, you've successfully crossed your eyes. People say you can try taking a picture of yourself in the cross-eyed position to see if you've done it successfully, but that just takes way too much coordination.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Using a Pen

1
Hold out a pen at eye level at arm's length. Focus on that object, trying to ignore everything behind it. This is really another version of staring at the tip of your nose, which exaggerates the process and makes it just a bit easier.
2
Bring the object closer to your face. Do this slowly, and make sure to keep your focus on that object only. This will take some practice. Don't get frustrated if you can't seem to keep your gaze on the object, at first.
3
Stop when the object is close to your face. Once the pen is about 2–4 inches (5.1–10.2 cm) from your face, your eyes should cross. Take a moment to continue to focus on the object with your eyes crossed.
4
Remove the object from your line of sight, but don't move your eyes. This part is tricky. As with the technique above, keeping your eyes crossed is the hard part, but it can be achieved with practice. You'll know when your eyes "uncross" because your eyes will seem to "snap" back into focus.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Moving One Eye at a Time

1
Be a master at crossing your eyes. This is an advanced skill you can master only after being a pro at crossing your eyes the regular old way. Crossing your eyes while moving one eye at a time has an extra gross-out factor, because, if you do it successfully, you'll be able to move your eyeballs in different directions.
2
Cross your eyes. Just use whatever technique works best for crossing your eyes, whether it's looking at the tip of your nose and then looking up, using a pen, or doing whatever works for you.
3
Focus on moving just one eye away from your nose. While your eyes are crossed, focus on, say, moving your right eyeball all the way out to the left side of your face. At first, it should at least get to the middle. As you do this, make sure to keep the left eye crossed, focusing on the tip of your nose. This will create a disturbing look, with one eye crossed all the way, and the other either facing out or even to the side.
4
Repeat with the other side. You may have more control of one eye than the other, so you should try the opposite, keeping your right eye crossed while moving your left eye to the center or all the way to the left corner of your eye. See which one is easier for you.
5
Keep practicing! This is an even harder skill than crossing your eyes, but if you master it, it is guaranteed to freak out your friends even more. Take just a few minutes a day to practice this skill and you'll be a champ in no time.

Community Q&A

Question

Isn't crossing your eyes on purpose bad for them?

Community Answer

That's an old wives tale. Crossing your eyes will not cause them to become stuck that way or cause any other permanent damage.
Question

Can this damage my eyes?

Aashna Balani

Community Answer

It can cause a temporary eye strain or headache, but it shouldn't cause any permanent damage.
Question

Could I see things twice if I crossed my eyes?

Community Answer

Only if you have both your eyes on the inner corners - then you will see double. If you have one eye in the inner corner and another in the center of the eye, your vision will just be weird.

Warnings

Sometimes when you do this your eyes ache afterwards.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 48 Not Helpful 16
If you have a lazy eye this will make it worse

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 26 Not Helpful 13
If you try to focus on something too close to your face, you will probably feel a bit of eye strain. While doctors say there is no truth to the myth that your eyes might stay crossed,(see the external link below) you can temporarily hurt your eye muscles by crossing your eyes for long periods of time. To avoid strain, make sure to give your eyes a break every so often while you're practicing.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 6 Not Helpful 2