In this letter, MnO 2 -doped (Bi 0.5 Na 0.5 ) 0.94 Ba 0.06-TiO 3 (BNBT-6) lead-free piezoelectric ceramics were synthesized by solid state reaction, and the microstructure and electrical properties of the ceramics were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that all specimens take on single perovskite type structure, and the diffraction peaks shift to a large angle as the MnO 2 addition increases. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the grain sizes increases, and then decreases with increasing the MnO 2 content. The experiment results indicate that the electrical properties of ceramics are significantly influenced by the MnO 2 content, and the ceramics with homogeneous microstructure and excellent electrical properties are obtained with addition of 0.3 wt% MnO 2 and sintered at 1160°C. The piezoelectric constant (d 33 ), the electromechanical coupling factor (k p ), the dissipation factor (tan δ) and the dielectric constant (ɛ r ) reach 160 pC/N, 0.29, 0.026 and 879, respectively. These excellent properties indicate that the MnO 2 -doped BNBT-6 ceramics can be used for actuators.