Highly mesoporous active carbon for removing methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution was prepared from pyrolyzed rice husk by combination of CO2activation and NaOH-solution boiling. The preparation method was found to be alkali-saving and equipment-friendly. The prepared active carbon exhibited high mesoporosity (79.1%), with mesopore volume and specific surface area up to 0.619 mL/g and 899 m2/g, respectively. At initial MB concentrations of 240-380 mg/L, the MB removal efficiency of the prepared active carbon ranged from 92% to more than 99%, fairly comparable to that of the highly mesoporous commercial active carbon used for reference. The adsorption of MB onto the prepared active carbon well followed the pseudo second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm. This study indicated that highly mesoporous active carbon with large dye removal efficiency could be prepared from rice husk by an alkali-saving and equipment-friendly process.