The invention relates to a preparation method of industrial musk tonalide, which comprises the following steps: carrying out Friedel-Crafts alkylation by using p-isopropyl toluene and 2,3-dimethyl-1-butene as raw materials and using tertiary butyl chloride as a hydrogen absorption agent to synthesize an intermediate 1,1,3,4,4,6-hexamethyl tetrahydronaphthalene; and in a dichloromethane solvent, carrying out Friedel-Crafts alkylation on the intermediate used as the raw material and acetyl chloride, thereby obtaining the product musk tonalide (7-acetyl-1,1,3,4,4,6-hexamethyl tetrahydronaphthalene, AHMT). Compared with the existing method and technology, the method provided by the invention is simple to operate, has the characteristics of high reaction speed, high yield and the like, and realizes industrial production; and the product can be simply purified by thermally dissolving out pigments by using anhydrous alcohol without distillation or rectification.