The determination techniques of harmful metals in tobacco were reviewed with regard to sample preparation and analysis. The preparation methods, such as ashing, acid digestion, microwave digestion, solid phase extraction, electro-thermal vaporization, slurry sampling, etc, and the analytical methods, such as atomic spectrometry, spectrophotometry, high performance liquid chromatography, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and neutron activation analysis were investigated. The pro and con of using these methods were analyzed, and the application of other possible methods of harmful metals in tobacco was previewed.