Abstract This research investigates how activated carbon (AC) was synthesized from potato peel waste (PPW). Different ACs were synthesized under the atmosphere's conditions during carbonation via two activation methods: first, chemical activation, and second, carbon dioxide-physical activation. The influence of the drying period on the preparation of the precursor and the methods of activation were investigated. The specific surface area and pore volume of the activated carbon were estimated using the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method. The AC produced using physical activation had a surface area as high as 1210 m2/g with a pore volume of 0.37 cm3/g, whereas the chemical activation had a surface area of 1210 m2/g with a pore volume of 0.34 cm3/g. The main aim of this research is to produce activated carbon from natural materials and to prepare and characterize the elemental analysis, surface area, and morphological properties of ACs from potato peel waste using potassium hydroxide (KOH) AC-PPK and Carbon dioxide (CO2) ACPPC as activating agents. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the degree of crystallinity to be 35.03% in the case of AC-PPK, and AC-PPC showed a crystallinity of 35.46%. In both methods, the results showed that the crystallographic structure revealed that all the synthesized AC took on an amorphous state with low crystallinity. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) image of AC shows the presence of nanotips on the surface and shows that the maximum height was 1396 nm and 778 nm. The outer surfaces are full of cavities and highly irregular as a result of activation. The morphological analysis of the precursors was determined by scanning electron microscopy. The external surfaces are full of cavities and quite irregular as a result of activation. Also, activated carbon prepared from potato peel waste is a low-cost and effective adsorbent when compared with several activated carbon sources.