CoFe2O4 nanocables have been successfully fabricated by electrospinning involving the nanoscale Kirkendall effect. The average diameters of the outer tubes and inner wires of CoFe2O4 nanocables are around 200 nm and 85 nm, respectively. The detailed formation process nanoscale morphology, structure and unique magnetic properties of CoFe2O4 nanocables have been studied comprehensively. Each fully calcined individual nanocable is composed of CoFe2O4 monocrystallites, which stacked along the longitudinal direction with random orientation. The coercivity (H-c) of the CoFe2O4 nanocables decreases from 11043 Oe at 10 K to 707 Oe at 300 K, and a spin reorientation has been detected at 5 K and 100 K, which is different from CoFe2O4 nanorods and nanoparticles. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.