The invention is directed at a magneto-optical recording medium which is directly overwritable by light intensity modulation, does not require an initializing magnet, and has on the surface side of a substrate four magnetic layers, a memory layer M.sub.1, a writing layer W.sub.2, a switching layer S.sub.3, and an initializing layer I.sub.4. The magnetic layers each contain a rare earth element and a transition element, have perpendicular magnetic anisotropy at room temperature, and satisfy the relationships:Tc.sub.I4 >Tc.sub.W2 >Tc.sub.M1 and Tc.sub.I4 >Tc.sub.W2 >Tc.sub.S3wherein Tc.sub.M1, Tc.sub.W2, Tc.sub.S3 and Tc.sub.I4 are the Curie temperatures of M.sub.1, W.sub.2, S.sub.3 and I.sub.4, respectively. Writing layer W.sub.2 is composed mainly of dysprosium, iron and cobalt, contains from 29-35 atomic percent of rare earth elements, and has an atomic ratio Fe/(Fe+Co) of from 0.40 to 0.58. This medium has an improved CNR, minimizes deterioration in the CNR with repeated overwriting, enhances storage reliability, and has an increased output.