Cow dung is one of the most abundant wastes generated on earth and has been traditionally used as fertilizer and fuel in most of the developing countries. In this study activated carbon is synthesized from cow dung by a modified chemical activation method, where partially carbonized cow dung is treated with KOH in different ratio. The synthesized activated carbon possesses irregular surface morphology with high surface area in the range of 1500–2000 m2 g−1 with proper amount of micropore and mesopore volume. In particular, we demonstrate that the surface morphology and porosity parameters change with increase in KOH ratio. These activated carbons are tested as electrode material in two-electrode symmetric supercapacitor system in non-aqueous electrolyte and found to exhibit high specific capacitance with excellent retention of it at high current density and for long term operation. In particular, the activated carbon synthesized at 2:1 ratio of KOH and the pre-carbonized char shows the best performance with specific capacitance of 124 F g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and retains up to 117 F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1 current density. The performance is attributed to high surface area along with optimum amount of micropore and mesopore volume.