In this work, oxidized starch with high carbonyl contents is obtained in a rather simple way using corn starch as raw material and NaBrO as an oxidizer. The produced oxidized starch is evaluated by measuring the carboxyl content, carbonyl content, yield, and the intrinsic viscosity. The influences of pH, reaction time, temperature and oxidizer content on carbonyl content, carboxyl content, intrinsic viscosity, and yield of the oxidized starch are investigated in detail. It is found that the reaction conditions are readily controlled, and the higher carbonyl contents as well as yield of oxidized starch can be obtained compared with those reported previously, leading to promising products. The formation of carboxyl and carbonyl groups on the oxidized starch is confirmed by FT‐IR. The changes of crystallinity and the apparent morphology of oxidized starch are characterized with XRD and SEM, respectively.