High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have emerged as a new alloy system, with many attractive properties. Among the fabrication routes, mechanical alloying followed by sintering, have been widely used. However, sintering mechanisms of HEA powders have not yet been fully understood. This work attempts to understand the sintering kinetics of CoCrFeNiMn HEA powders. A comparative study has been done on CoCrFeNiMn alloy powders on as-milled and annealed conditions, which revealed different sintering behaviours. Decreasing densification rates with increasing activation energies were observed through dilatometry after the annealing treatment. Combined diffusion coefficients and activation energies analysed through the sintering models indicate that during sintering of the as-milled powder, mass transport occurred through several modes. On the other hand, the annealed CoCrFeNiMn alloy powder (which was nearly single phase) clearly reveals volume diffusion as the controlling mechanism during sintering. It was characterised with large activation energy. Special theme block on high entropy alloys, guest edited by Paula Alvaredo Olmos, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, and Sheng Guo, Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Sweden. © 2018 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of the Institute.