Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) neutron detectors present such advantages as small leakage current, small volume, fast response speed, high detection efficiency and insensitivity to γrays, thus they are expected to be widely used as supplements of the traditional 3He gas detector and microstructure semiconductor neutron detector. The principles of hBN neutron detector are introduced in this paper, and the research progressed of hBN neutron detector in recent years are also reviewed, including the preparation process of hBN films, the structure and performance of hBN neutron detectors and so on.