The invention belongs to the field of preparation of activated carbon, and particularly relates to a method for preparing activated carbon from rice husks. According to the method, zinc chloride is used as an activator to treat substances, dissolved in zinc chloride, in raw material rice husks, saccharides such as glucose and the like are gradually decomposed and then further oxidized into uronic acid, uronic acid and aldose are condensed to form furfural, the furfural further has a polycyclic aromatization reaction to form condensed carbon, finally, an activated carbon structure is formed, the activated carbon structure is loose, the porous structure is more stable, and the specific surface area is larger. Alkali dissolution is performed with a sodium hydroxide solution, silicon dioxide in the rice husks is removed, and the porosity and activity of carbon are further increased. The more expensive zinc chloride can be recycled in the production process, raw materials are easy to obtain, the preparation process is pollution-free, and the product is low in impurity content, good in looseness, large in specific surface area and high in adsorption capacity.