BackgroundTumors involving the jugular foramen region are challenging for surgical resection. With the development of endoscope in the past decade, surgical approaches assisted by endoscope have been widely emerged in the treatment of skull base tumors.MethodsHerein, we report a case of jugular foramen schwannoma (Samii type B). Surgical resection was applied via a suboccipital retrosigmoidal craniotomy using surgical microscope assisted by endoscope. Gross total resection was achieved. And the patient recovered without obvious neurological deficits.ConclusionsSamii type B schwannomas involving the jugular foramen is approachable by endoscope-assisted surgery.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00701-022-05481-7.