In the present work, we report the highly nonlinear spray deposited manganese (Mn) doped ZnS (Mn:ZnS) with the precursor ratio 1:3 for (Mn + Zn):S. The basic structural and optical properties of the prepared Mn:ZnS thin films were assessed through X-ray diffractometry, UV–Visible and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Two-photon induced nonlinearity in the Mn:ZnS thin films was estimated using the Z-scan technique. We have observed very high nonlinear absorption coefficient of 7.7 cm/W. The samples were assessed for optical limiting applications.