The invention relates to the technical field of natural medicine extraction, and particularly discloses a method for extracting phorbol from croton oil by using a Girard's reagent. The method comprises the following steps: S1, mixing 1 part of croton oil with 5-25 parts of a methanol saturated solution of a Girard's reagent according to a feed liquid volume ratio, and carrying out a stirring reaction at 18-50 DEG C for 30-180 min to obtain a reaction solution; S2, concentrating a reaction solution; S3, extracting and removing croton oil by using petroleum ether to obtain a water phase containing the phorbol Girard's reagent salt; S4, adjusting the pH value to 2-3, and extracting the phorbol in the water phase by using petroleum ether; S5, concentrating the petroleum ether phase to obtain an oily substance; and S6, carrying out alcoholysis, acidification and filtration on the oily substance to obtain a crude product of the phorbol. According to the method, carbonyl reacts with a Girard's reagent, and then a large amount of impurities can be removed by an extraction method due to different polarities of the components, so that a crude product of the phorbol with relatively high purity is obtained. The method has the characteristics of simplicity and convenience in operation, short time consumption and low solvent consumption, and is easy to popularize and apply industrially.