In this study, three adsorbents were prepared with the raw kaolin issued from the Tamazert region in Algeria (Tamazert kaolin (KT)), for the removal of basic dye methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The first absorbent, KT-1, was obtained by thermal treatment; the second, KT-2, was obtained by thermal followed by acid treatment; and the third, KT-3, was obtained by thermal followed by acid and alkaline treatments. These adsorbents were characterized by powder X ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, and scanning electron microscopy. Adsorption equilibrium isotherms of MB were correlated with common isotherm equations such as Langmuir and Freundlich models. The modified kaolins (KT-1, KT-2, and KT-3) showed different capacities of the equilibrium adsorption in comparison with raw kaolin (KT). The maximal adsorption capacity (111 mg g À1 ) was observed with modified kaolin (KT-3). The effect of operating parameters such as the initial dye concentration, contact time, adsorbent dose, pH, and temperature were studied onto KT-3. The removal of MB by adsorbent increased with an increase in adsorbent dose and initial concentration. Kinetics models, the pseudo-first-order, and pseudo-second-order rate equations were applied. The obtained results show that the adsorption of MB by KT-3 was well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The thermodynamic study revealed that the adsorption process was spontaneous, endothermic, and the positive value of ÁS indicated the affinity of MB molecules to the adsorbent surface. This study showed that this new adsorbent could be a good candidate for some activated carbons.