AbstractThis paper analyses the generation of entropy in an electrically conducting third‐grade fluid through a vertical channel considering the variable thermal conductivity. Aspects of radiation, viscous dissipation, porous medium, Joule heating, convective boundary condition, and heat generation are studied. Nonlinear systems of ordinary differential equations are obtained via applying suitable dimensionless variables. After that, the system is solved with the aid of using the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method. The numerical solutions are used to characterize the irreversibility and irreversibility ratio. It is established that the entropy is enhanced with accelerating estimations of the third‐grade material parameter, Brinkman number, magnetism, Biot number, porous parameter, and the impact is decelerated with elevating values of the radiation. The rate of heat transfer is higher for the Brinkman number, and a similar impact on drag force is noticed for magnetic and Grashof numbers. All the parameters on flow, temperature, fluid irreversibility and irreversibility ratio are discussed through graphical illustration.