A method of patterning magnetic material includes forming a ferromagnetic material layer containing one element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co and Ni on a substrate, selectively masking a surface of the ferromagnetic material layer, and making nonferromagnetic. The making nonferromagnetic step includes exposing an exposed portion in halogen-containing reaction gas, changing magnetism of the exposed portion and a lower layer thereof by chemical reaction, and making the exposed portion a nonferromagnetic material region. A magnetic recording medium is fabricated by using the magnetic material patterning method and includes a plurality of recording regions made of ferromagnetic materials, each containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of Fe, Co and Ni, and a nonferromagnetic material region for separating the recording regions from each other. The nonferromagnetic material region is a compound region of the ferromagnetic material and halogen.