Aluminium alloys were widely applied in rail transit, ships and aerospace owing to their unique properties, such as low density, high strength and stiffness, outstanding corrosion resistance and low temperature performance. As a type of structure material, aluminium alloy joining was inevitable. However, these alloys were often considered very difficult to weld using traditional fusion welding technique since the welding seams were often accompanied with metallurgical defects, large deformation and stress. Friction stir welding (FSW), an innovative solid-state welding technology invented at the welding institute (TWI), was seen by designers as an effective joining methods in welding aluminium alloys due to low heat input, small stress-strain and environment friendly. In this work, 0.8 mm thick plate of 6061-T6 aluminium alloy was successfully welded by use of high rotational speed fiction stir welding technology. The microstructure and mechanical property of the butt joints prepared by high rotational speed friction stir welding were analysed in detail. The results show that the well surface topography and excellent bonding interface existed in the nugget zone (NZ) were observed. Both of the microhardness of the weld seam was lower than that of the substrate. The lowest microhardness of the butt joints located between the thermo-mechanically affected zone (TMAZ) and heat affected zone (HAZ). Compared with the conventional rotational speed, the number of β-Mg₂Si, Al₂CuMg and Al₈Fe₂Si precipitated phases existed in the NZ was more, which made the microhardness in the NZ improved significantly. The rod-shaped precipitates (Mg₂Si) have the greatest influence on the microhardness. The excellent mechanical properties were obtained at the rotational speed of 8000 r/min and welding speed of 1500 mm/min. The maximum tensile strength was 301.8 MPa, which was 85.8% of the as-received 6061-T6 (351.7 MPa). And the toughness-brittleness fracture mode appeared.