Abstract The development of Iron-based shape memory alloys holds significant promises for cost-sensitive applications. FeMnNiAl has been attracting increasing interest due to high levels of superelasticity across a wide range of temperatures (−196–300 °C). However, shape memory effect for this alloy system has not been demonstrated. In this study, the effect of aging treatments in inducing either shape memory or superelasticity is investigated. Shape memory strains of ≈ 4.5% are reported for polycrystalline FeMn34Ni7.5Al13.5 (at.%). The observation of shape memory effect and the magnitude of recovery strains were dependent on aging conditions, crystal orientation, and deformation temperature.