Fentanyl analogues are laboratory-synthesized strong opioids with high addictive properties, simple preparation and easy derivatization. Their introduction to the drug market has shown increasing smuggling and illicit abuse worldwide. In addition, the toxic dose of fentanyl analogues is small, which can cause high mortality and pose a serious threat to public health in various countries. In this regard, 21 fentanyl-related substances were controlled by the United Nations cumulative regulations in 2018, and the Chinese government implemented the whole class control of fentanyl-related substances in 2019 in order to deal with the risk and harm caused by the problem of eating and injecting drugs, and protect people’s physical and mental health. Based on the social harmfulness of fentanyl analogues, As new psychoactive substances like fentanyl are harmful, we reviewed their properties, abuse method, laboratory detection and on-site rapid detection method. The development of detection technology and method is also briefly prospected in order to provide technical reference for drug inspection research.