In this article, a detection method for organic explosives by capillary electrophoresis (CE) is developed based on previous detection techniques. Firstly, a buffer solution consisting of 50 mmol·L-1 sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 20 mmol·L-1 sodium tetraborate and 5% methanol was prepared and the UV detection in this buffer solution was conducted for three common organic explosives, including TNT, DNT and PETN. Then, the capillary UV detection method was investigated in terms of the transition time repeatability, the linear relationship between mass concentration and peak area and the limit of detection. The results revealed good reliability and stability of this method. In addition, these samples were characterized by photodiode array detector (PDA) to verify the qualitative results of UV detection.