Here, the magnetic hierarchical porous carbon (MHPC) with micromesopores was first prepared using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tripotassium (EDTA-3K) and iron nitrate by simultaneous magnetization/activation method. The optimal product was MHPC-20 with a high graphitization, which possessed a large S-BET (1688 m(2) g(-1)) and saturation magnetization (3.679 emu g(-1)). As expected, MHPC-20 had a very high maximum adsorption capacity (534.2 mg g(-1)) toward chloramphenicol (CAP) from water solution at 298 K with a positive correlation between SBET and adsorption amount. Additionally, MHPC-20 had a fast adsorption kinetic, only 250 min, and isothermal and kinetics data were well fitted by Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic models, respectively. Moreover, the effect of ion strength, solution pH, and humic acid on CAP adsorption onto MHPC-20 were investigated, indicating a better stability. Besides, MHPC-20 showed good reusability and excellent magnetic separation performance, which implied MHPC-20 as a candidate could be applied in various complex wastewater environments.