[en] The effect of substitution of Mg–Zr for Fe in M-type barium hexaferrite (BHF) and of processing technique on the magnetic properties and microstructure has been reported in the present paper. Significant changes in magnetic properties have been observed on substituting Fe ions by Mg and Zr ions in M-type barium hexaferrite, i.e. BaFe₁₂O₁₉ as well as by single mode microwave processing. The single mode microwave processing of the undoped sample reduced the coercivity to nearly 25% of the value for the sintered sample along with the enhancement in magnetization, thereby making it suitable for memory devices. The improvement in magnetic properties is explained on the basis of microstructure. The addition of substituents, though assisted in the formation of single phase, it, however, degraded the magnetization besides decreasing the coercivity, possibly due to substitution at the octahedral sites