The invention discloses a sol-gel preparation method of aluminum hydroxide. The preparation method comprises the following steps: step one, preparing an aluminum chloride solution from aluminum chloride and deionized water, and then dropwise adding hydrochloric acid into the solution to adjust the pH value; step two, adding the prepared solution into a reaction flask provided with a reflux apparatus, a magnet stirrer, and a temperature meter, carrying out reactions in a water bath at a constant temperature, then heating under stirring, and refluxing; step three, after the reactions, cooling to the room temperature, filtering, washing the reaction product by acetone, and then drying the reaction product in a baking oven so as to obtain the aluminum hydroxide powder. In the provided preparation method, the raw materials are dispersed into a solvent to prepare a solution with low viscosity in advance, thus the uniformity in the molecular level can be achieved in a very short time, compared to the reactions performed in a solid, and the chemical reactions can be carried out more easily in a solution, so the synthesis temperature is lower, moreover, the obtained product is finer, and the flame retardant effect is better.