Atmospheric fine particles (PM2.5), with small particle size and large specific surface area, are easy to adsorb pollutants such as metals, organic compounds, viruses, bacteria etc., and become carriers and reactants of toxic and harmful substances, which seriously affect air quality and have become the primary pollutants in the atmospheric environment. Metal and metalloid elements in PM2.5 seriously pollute the natural environment because of their non-degradability and hysteresis. When PM2.5 is inhaled into the human body, toxic and harmful metal and metalloid elements are deposited in the alveoli from the respiratory tract and then transferred to the blood and other organs. They can affect the normal physiological functions of the human body, resulting in a slow development of the body length, and even lead to cancer and other diseases, which seriously threaten human health. In recent years, many cities in China have also carried out corresponding studies on the pollution characteristics, distribution level and source analysis of metal elements in PM2.5. For these reasons, the method of effectively collecting metal and metalloid elements in PM2.5, the pretreatment method with high digestion efficiency and the detection method with simple, rapid, accurate, sensitive and strong anti-interference ability have become the research focus and hotspots in elemental analysis of PM2.5. The analytical method based on inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) can not only satisfy the simultaneous determination of multiple elements in PM2.5 but also has a wide dynamic linear range, low detection limit and high sensitivity. Scholars have carried out a lot of studies and formed a relatively complete research system. This method can provide theoretical data support for the composition, origin, temporal and spatial distribution, morphological and corresponding isotopic analysis, physiological toxicity and transformation mechanism of metals and metalloids in PM2.5. Therefore, the analytical methods for the determination of metal and metalloid elements in PM2.5 by ICP-MS are reviewed in this paper. The selection of the sampling filter, the pretreatment method and the selection of the digestion solution are described in detail. The applications of several ICP-MS combined techniques in the speciation and isotope analysis of metal and metalloid elements in PM2.5 are emphasized. The advantages and disadvantages of various sampling filters, pretreatment methods, digestion solutions and detection techniques are summarized, and the future challenges and research directions in this field are also proposed. This paper can provide theoretical reference for the further development of simple, rapid, sensitive and selective detection of metal and metalloid elements in PM2.5 by ICP-MS.