Corrosion inhibitor technology is a simple and effective corrosion protection method to prevent metal corrosion in a corrosive medium, hence it has been extensively studied and applied to traditional metals such as steel and copper. As magnesium has atomic structure characteristic including low electron receptivity and electron giving capacity as well as highly active chemical properties, effective corrosion inhibitors for traditional metal materials are not ideal for magnesium alloy, so studies on corrosion inhibitors of magnesium alloy are less and started late. In recent years, through unremitting efforts made by research institutes at home and abroad, certain breakthrough has been made in development of magnesium alloy corrosion inhibitors and study on corrosion inhibition mechanism, an evaluation system has been initially established for magnesium alloy corrosion inhibitors. For different application mediums of magnesium alloy corrosion inhibitors, based upon compound properties of magnesium alloy corrosion inhibitors, recent research trends including development of magnesium alloy corrosion inhibitors structure-activity relationship, main factors influencing corrosion inhibition efficiency and optimization of compound corrosion inhibitors were presented, and corresponding corrosion mechanism or synergistic corrosion mechanism was introduced. Finally, future research direction, development trend and application field expansion of magnesium alloy corrosion inhibitors were prospected by referring to the research status of magnesium alloy corrosion inhibitors as well asnew research methods and development of correspondingdetection technology.