The work aims to make relevant researchers quickly understand the preparation method and application of superhydrophobic paper, and provide ideas and reference for development of new superhydrophobic paper. The theoretical models of superhydrophobic materials were summarized, and the research progress of paper based superhydrophobic materials was summarized according to the preparation methods, and the advantages and disadvantages of various preparation methods were reviewed. Methods for preparation of paper based superhydrophobic materials mainly included surface coating, electrostatic spinning, dip coating, surface chemical modification, layer upon layer assembly, phase separation, non-solvent steam, and rapid expansion of supercritical solution technique, among which surface coating and dip coating had low cost and simple operation, were easy to realize large-scale production and were the most widely used. Green preparation of superhydrophobic paper and development of multifunctional superhydrophobic paper are the main directions of future development in this field.