The invention discloses a preparation method of o-nitrobenzaldehyde, wherein the preparation method comprises the following steps: (1) adding o-nitrobenzyl alcohol, a catalyst, a bromide salt and a solvent into a reaction kettle, and uniformly stirring at room temperature; (2) controlling the reaction temperature, slowly dropwise adding a sodium hypochlorite solution into the reaction kettle, and simultaneously adding a weakly alkaline substance or an acidic substance to control the pH value of the reaction; (3) standing for layering, adding an organic solvent to extract a product, and concentrating to obtain a crude product; and (4) crystallizing by using an organic solvent, centrifuging, and drying in vacuum to obtain o-nitrobenzaldehyde. According to the method, 2-(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine nitroxide radical-4-subunit) acetic acid which is low in price and easy to obtain is used as a catalyst, the sodium hypochlorite solution is used as an oxidizing agent, a mixed solvent of water and chlorinated hydrocarbon is used as a reaction solvent, the o-nitrobenzaldehyde is prepared through oxidation under the mild temperature condition, the raw materials are low in price and easy to obtain, the reaction time is short, the reaction selectivity is high, and the yield is high.