Display omitted The novel magnetically retrievable Bi2WO6/MCNOs (MCNOs, magnetic carbon nano-onions) composite was synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method. The characteristics of the as-prepared materials were explored by XRD, Raman, SEM, TEM, XPS, UV–vis DRS, N2 adsorption-desorption techniques and FT-IR techniques, and the paramagnetic nature of the as-prepared composite was determined by hysteresis loops measurements. In this work, rhodamine B (RhB), methyl orange (MO), methylene blue (MB), tetracycline (TC) and p-nitrophenol (PNP) were chosen as the typical organic pollutants to evaluate the photodegradation efficiency of the as-prepared composite. The results indicated that Bi2WO6/MCNOs have a superior performance on photocatalytic activity than pure Bi2WO6. Furthermore, a possible mechanism was proposed based on the physic-chemical and photocatalytic properties. This work will provide new methodology for designing next generation photocatalyst for environmental purification.