The invention discloses a method for preparing 1, 6-hexanediol by hydrogenating 1, 6-dimethyl adipate, which is characterized by comprising the following steps and metering in parts by weight: 1000 to 10000 parts of oxide is as a carrier, 100 to 200 parts of heavy metal and 40 to 400 parts of co-catalyst metal salt are immersed for 12h at a room temperature to be pumped, filtered, vacuum dried and calcined to obtain a loaded heavy metal catalyst; 1 to 30 parts of the catalyst and 20 to 400 parts of solvent are filled into a reaction kettle, high-pure hydrogen is used for replacing oxygen in the reaction kettle for 3 to 5 times, the catalyst is activated for 2 to 8h under the temperature of 100 to 200 DEG C, pressure of 1.0 to 3.0 MPa and the blending speed of 200 to 1000 rpm, 50 to 200 parts of 1, 6-dimethyl adipate is filled into the reaction kettle after the reaction kettle is opened, the high-pure hydrogen is again used for replacing the oxygen inside the reaction kettle for 3 to 5 times to be reacted for 5 to 12h under the temperature of 150 to 220 DEG C, the pressure of 3.0 to 5.0 MPa and the blending speed of 500 to 1000rpm, and reaction solution is taken out to analyze; and the conversion rate is 60.0 to 99.9 percent, and the selectivity is 70.0 to 99.9 percent.