The invention provides a method for preparing silicon dioxide aerogel from quartz tailings as a raw material. The method comprises the following steps: step 1, the quartz tailings are washed, dried, ground and sieved and then ground and mixed with sodium carbonate powder, a mixture is calcined, and a calcination product is obtained; step 2, the calcination product is ground and sieved, undersized matter is added to hot water to be stirred and dissolved, the solution is filtered, a filtrate is taken, and water glass is obtained; step 3, the pH value of the water glass is regulated with hydrochloric acid, a sol-gel reaction is performed, a product is left to stand for aging, and hydrogel is obtained; step 4, free water in the hydrogel is filtered out, residual moisture is replaced with absolute ethyl alcohol, and alcogel is obtained; step 5, the alcogel is soaked with an n-hexane solution of trimethylchlorosilane, and hydrophobically modified alkane gel is obtained; step 6, drying is performed, and the silicon dioxide aerogel is obtained. The raw materials are cheap and available, the preparation process adopts mild conditions and has low equipment requirements, so that the production cost of the silicon dioxide aerogel is reduced greatly, and the prepared aerogel has good performance.