Naturally occurring manganese (₂₅Mn) is composed of one stable isotope, ⁵⁵Mn. 26 radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being ⁵³Mn with a half-life of 3.7 million years, ⁵⁴Mn with a half-life of 312.3 days, and ⁵²Mn with a half-life of 5.591 days. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 3 hours and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than a minute. This element also has 3 meta states.

Manganese is part of the iron group of elements, which are thought to be synthesized in large stars shortly before supernova explosions. ⁵³Mn decays to ⁵³Cr with a half-life of 3.7 million years. Because of its relatively short half-life, ⁵³Mn occurs only in tiny amounts due to the action of cosmic rays on iron in rocks.^[4] Manganese isotopic contents are typically combined with chromium isotopic contents and have found application in isotope geology and radiometric dating. Mn−Cr isotopic ratios reinforce the evidence from ²⁶Al and ¹⁰⁷Pd for the early history of the Solar System. Variations in ⁵³Cr/⁵²Cr and Mn/Cr ratios from several meteorites indicate an initial ⁵³Mn/⁵⁵Mn ratio that suggests Mn−Cr isotopic systematics must result from in-situ decay of ⁵³Mn in differentiated planetary bodies. Hence ⁵³Mn provides additional evidence for nucleosynthetic processes immediately before coalescence of the Solar System.

The isotopes of manganese range in atomic weight from 46 u (⁴⁶Mn) to 72 u (⁷²Mn). The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, ⁵⁵Mn, is electron capture and the primary mode after is beta decay.