•ZnTe nanowires are grown by molecular beam epitaxy using vapor-liquid-solid process.•Growth evolution of ZnTe nanowires on (001) GaAs substrates is examined.•The nanowire growth starts in-plane by switches to out-of-plane when they intersect. The growth evolution of gold-catalyzed ZnTe nanowire condensates on (001) GaAs substrates is studied. The samples are obtained by molecular beam epitaxy. The growth of nanowires has been monitored in situ by RHEED and investigated ex-situ by TEM, SEM, XRD. In addition to nanowires sticking out of surface in 〈111〉 direction, formation ZnTe thin film is observed. It is found, that formation of the nanowire condensate occurs in three stages. At the initial stage of growth planar nanowires form and continue to grow in 〈110〉 direction until their intersection occurs. After the intersection, nanowires change the growth direction from planar to out-of-plane. At the final stage of growth in-plane nanowires coalescence forming a thin film. In addition to main reflections from ZnTe nanowires some oriented spots and rings have been observed on RHEED patterns. We attribute these spots to twin formation in nanowires and rings to a presence of disoriented domains in ZnTe film condensates.