The invention provides a method for preparing p-hydroxyphenyl ethanol, relating to a preparation method of a compound. The method for preparing the p-hydroxyphenyl ethanol, provided by the invention, has the advantages of simplicity in operation, environmental friendliness, high yield, reusable catalyst and applicability to industrial production. The method comprises the steps of: putting p-hydroxyphenyl acetate serving as a raw material, a copper-based catalyst serving as a hydrogenation catalyst, and a reaction solvent in a reaction vessel, replacing air in the reaction vessel with nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas respectively, and then, reacting; and carrying out depressurized spin drying on a solution after reacting, recovering the reaction solvent so as to obtain white solids, recrystallizing by using chloroform so as to obtain colorless needle-like crystals, filtering out precipitated crystals, washing filter cakes with water, and then, carrying out vacuum drying, thereby obtaining the p-hydroxyphenyl ethanol. The copper-based catalyst is used, so that the catalyst is little in consumption and can be reused; used solvents can be all recovered, so that the environmental protection and cost reduction are benefited; and the yield of the p-hydroxyphenyl ethanol is high and can reach over 80% at highest.