Zinc-doped manganese ferrites synthesized by chemical co-precipitation technique showed significant linear and nonlinear optical properties and have been utilized to realize optoelectronic device applications. Mn1−xZnxFe2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) nanoparticles were characterized by various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques along with Z-scan studies. The formation of a single phase cubic spinel structure is confirmed from XRD analysis, whereas the FTIR spectra indicated corresponding bond formations between the ions. The micrographs of doped and undoped samples show a clear difference in morphology. The absence of additional/impure peaks in EDX spectra confirms phase purity. The optical band gap decreases with increasing Zn2+ ion concentration, which indicates the blue shift. In PL spectra, the peak at 386 nm is attributed to the defects which are originated because of oxygen vacancies. Calculated nonlinear parameters such as nonlinear absorption coefficient (β), nonlinear refractive index (n2), real and imaginary parts of third order nonlinear susceptibility (χ3) of doped systems are found to be enhanced compared with pure ferrite. Limiting threshold values indicate that the Zn2+ doped manganese spinel ferrites are one of the efficient materials for broadband optical limiting applications. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.