The main objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of Mg/Si precipitates on the hot-compression response of Al-Mg-Si alloy and further inspect the influence of compression temperatures and Mg/Si precipitates on microstructural changes. The processing maps were drawn using the dynamic materials model approach. To validate the processing maps, metallurgical factors of different regions of processing map were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and electron back-scattered diffraction. The influence of strain rate on the flow stresses of Al-Mg-Si alloy is not consistent with the traditional results after compression from 100 to 250 °C, due to the strain ageing produced by the Mg/Si precipitates. The DSC study reveals that no Mg/Si precipitate evolved during the compression test after compressing beyond 250 °C. The processing maps (drawn at 0.1 true strain to 0.6 true strain) and metallurgical factors (high-angle grain boundaries or dynamic recrystallized grains) indicated that hot-compression efficiency of Al-Mg-Si alloy is significantly improved after compression beyond 250 °C, because no Mg/Si precipitates evolved. © 2019, ASM International.