During final annealing at 1200 degreesC, the microalloyed sulfur in 3% silicon steel segregates to free surface and grain boundaries, and causes a surface energy difference among crystal planes. Under a vacuum or hydrogen atmosphere, a convex profile in concentration of surface-segregated sulfur versus annealing time was observed. This is because the segregated sulfur evaporates under vacuum and gasifies as hydrogen sulfide under hydrogen, resulting in a depleted zone just below the strip surface. After the subsequent surface-energy-induced selective growth of {100}, {111} and high index grains in the order of increasing concentration of segregated sulfur, the surviving {110} <001> grains grow selectively within the time range of low concentration of segregated sulfur. Final annealing under an argon atmosphere causes the saturation in segregated-sulfur concentration with time, due to the very weak evaporation. At the highly segregated sulfur concentration, grains of high index crystal planes continue to grow, resulting in low magnetic induction.