<p>The regulation of magnetic ordering and its precisely tailored thermal expansion properties in magnetic materials are ongoing hot topics, urgently demanded by modern industries. Owing to its strongly distance-dependent complex magnetic structure, the properties of Ce₂Fe₁₇ intermetallic compound are highly sensitive to the preparation process and a series of multi-physical fields including pressure, temperature, and magnetic fields. Here, we introduced tensile stress into Ce₂Fe₁₇ using a high-energy ball milling method. Both static and high-frequency magnetic measurements revealed stress-induced room-temperature ferromagnetic ordering in Ce₂Fe₁₇, with the magnetization showing a nearly linear relationship with strain as milling time varies. Complementary neutron diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy confirmed that ball milling eliminated the helical magnetic ordering and enhanced the ferromagnetic ordering, resulting in room-temperature ferromagnetism in Ce₂Fe₁₇. Due to the inhomogeneous strain and short-range ferromagnetic ordering caused by ball milling, Ce₂Fe₁₇ exhibits a near-zero thermal expansion behavior (<i>α</i> = − 1.70 × 10^–6&#xa0;K⁻¹) over a wide temperature range (100–225&#xa0;K), making it a promising candidate for zero thermal expansion materials. This work highlights that strain control via high-energy ball milling is a feasible and scalable strategy for tuning the magnetic interactions and the interplay between lattice structure and magnetic ordering in intermetallic compounds.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>