In this paper, the whispering gallery mode lasing from Sm 3+ doped ZnO micro-spheres operating in the visible wavelength range 550-750 nm is studied. Highly smooth and crystalline Sm 3+ :ZnO micro-spheres of various diameters were synthesized by simple laser ablation of sintered target in air. The dopant concentration has been restricted within the solid solubility limit of 1 mol%. The Sm 3+ ion substitution in ZnO matrix results in the formation of inter-band levels by the characteristic 4f level of Sm 3+ in the forbidden gap of ZnO. Thus, when the micro-spheres are excited with 488 nm, four major visible emissions associated with Sm 3+ f − f transitions namely, transitions from 4 G 5/2 to its low-lying multiplets of 6 H J (J = 5/2, 7/2, 9/2 and 11/2), are obtained. These emissions are coupled to the WGMs of the Sm 3+ :ZnO micro-cavity resulting in sharp resonances in the visible region. Interestingly, the resonances are found to be lasing above lower pumping powers. The Q-factor obtained is of the order of 10 3 for spheres of size ranging 1.8-10.2 µm. The best Q-factor obtained is 3744 for 561.61 nm peak (FWHM 0.15 nm) from 8 µm sphere. These results would find a place in visible range lasing and sensor applications.