The invention provides a method for preparing ZnO nanometer powder by ultrasonic ball milling. The method comprises the following steps of: ball-milling metal zinc in an ultrasonic environment, filtering ball-milling solution under vacuum; and drying filter residues under vacuum and at a low temperature to obtain the purified ZnO nanometer powder. The method utilizes the organic coupling of ultrasound fields and mechanical force fields and adopts the ball-milling process under an ultrasonic action to change the metal Zn directly into single-phased and purified ZnO nanometer powder in one step. The method utilizes the organic coupling of ultrasound fields and mechanical force fields for the first time to successfully prepare the ZnO nanometer powder, organically combines the physical method and the chemical method; no other catalysts, refiners and other organic reaction solvents are unnecessarily added in the preparation process; and the method also has the advantages of simple process, lower-priced equipment, easy operation, easily bought materials, environmental protection and no pollution, high product purity, low cost, less energy consumption and the like, and the ZnO nanometer powder, prepared by the method, has quite good industrialization prospect.