The invention discloses a retractable blade vertical-axis tidal turbine, which comprises a rotating shaft, a turntable, blades, retractable support arms, eight guide rails, guide rail wheels, baffle plates, a controller and a support part, wherein the guide rails are positioned in the turntable, and are divided into two layers, and each layer comprises four guide rails; the guide rails are uniformly welded on the rotating shaft at intervals of 90 degrees; the guide rail wheels are mounted on the inner surfaces of the guide rails; a retractable support arm is mounted in each guide rail; the support arms are retractably and movably connected with the guide rails through the guide rail wheels; the blades are mounted at the ends, far away from the turntable, of the support arms; the blades are rectangular, and are positioned on the same planes as the upper and lower layers of retractable support arms; the baffle plates are fixedly mounted at the ends, far away from the turntable, of the blades, and are in right-angled connection with the blades; the blades slide in the guide rails through the retractable support arms, and are controlled by the controller to retractably move. According to the retractable blade vertical-axis tidal turbine with such a retractable design, the energy yielding efficiency of the vertical-axis turbine is improved, the size of the whole device is reduced, convenience in transportation and considerable market prospect are achieved, and the submarine mounting cost is reduced.