Porous zeolite Na-X with larger specific surface area and more ion-exchange capacity is usually applied in wastewater treatment, adsorption and separation of gases, and so on. It is traditionally prepared from the Si and Al-containing inorganic salts. Many minerals and solid waste residues such as coal fly ash, coal gangue, kaolin, oil shale, rice husk ash and bagasse which contain high concentration of Si and Al element can be used for the zeolite Na-X synthesis after pretreatment. The compositions of minerals and solid wastes, as well as the research progress of the synthesis of zeolite Na-X were reviewed, and the pretreatment processes, crystallization kinetics and crystallization mechanism were discussed. Moreover, the effects of synthesis conditions including SiO2/Al2O3 ratio, crystallization temperature and time, anions and cations, H2O/SiO2 ratio, alkali/ash ratio, ultrasonic treatment, and organic additive on the synthesis of zeolite Na-X from minerals and solid wastes were analyzed.