This study investigates the short time ball milling effect on surface properties of activated carbon. (AC) produced from mangosteen peels (MP) waste and its subsequent effects on adsorption of cationic methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution. AC was synthesized from MP waste under mild experimental conditions and was ball milled for a short time (30 min�120 min) at 350 rpm. The physicochemical properties of ball milled AC (BMAC) were investigated using BET, FTIR, TGA, FESEM, XRD and particle size distribution analysis. Various experimental results revealed that MB adsorption on BMAC was greatly influenced by basic pH, contact time and high temperature. The adsorption capability of BMAC was found to increase with decreasing particle size with ball milling. Kinetics study revealed that the adsorption capability of BMAC was best represented by pseudo second order kinetic model and adsorption equilibrium was well described by Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous as revealed by thermodynamic study. Overall, this work demonstrated that ball milling decreases the particle size of AC, increased its efficiency for adsorption of dye, and opened new ways for activation of AC using the ball-milling technique. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd