A low-cost and recyclable biosorbent derived from jute fiber was developed for high efficient adsorption of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) from water. The jute fiber was rapidly pretreated and grafted with metal binding groups (-COOH) under microwave heating (MH). The adsorption behavior of carboxyl-modified jute fiber under MH treatment (CMJF(MH)) toward heavy metal ions followed Langmuir isotherm model (R-2 > 0.99) with remarkably high adsorption capacity (157.21, 88.98 and 43.98 mg/g for Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II), respectively). Also, CMJFMH showed fast removal ability for heavy metals in a highly significant correlation with pseudo second-order kinetics model. Besides, CMJFMH can be easily regenerated with EDTA-2Na solution and reused up to at least four times with equivalent high adsorption capacity. Overall, cheap and abundant production, rapid and facile preparation, fast and efficient adsorption of heavy metals and high regeneration ability can make the CMJFMH a preferred biosorbent for heavy metal removal from water. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.