High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is one of the most important factors in monosaccharide analysis due to its simple operation, and high efficiency and sensitivity. In this study, several commonly used methods were described, for the analysis of monosaccharides by high performance liquid chromatography, i.e., liquid chromatography differential refractive index detection, liquid chromatography evaporative light scattering detection, PMP pre-column derivatization detection, para-aminobenzoic acid pre-column derivatization, the o-aminobenzoic acid derivative method and post-column derivatization method. Moreover, the advantages and disadvantages of these methods were demonstrated, and the sensitivity, operation method, and accuracy were compared and analyzed among these methods.