Total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) is widely used in trace elements, ultra-trace element, and multi-element analysis due to its low detection limit and low energy spectrum background count. This article studies the development and application of TXRF. The development of TXRF can be divided into three stages. The first stage: Total reflection was first presented in 1971 to the publication of the first monograph about TXRF in 1997, mainly the theoretical research of TXRF and the application in single element analysis; the second stage: 1998 to 2017, during this stage, TXRF has developed rapidly, from single element analysis to multi-element simultaneous analysis, mainly used in geology, environment, chemistry, medicine, etc. field; the third stage: based on the extensive application of TXRF, conduct in-depth research on its basic theory, further improve the performance of the instrument, and achieve more accurate analysis results.