The invention provides an acquisition method and a receiver for a global satellite navigation system. The method comprises the step of generating a plurality of sub-codes by intercepting sub-codes from a full code, wherein the full code comprises a plurality of code shifts, each of which appears for the same times in the sub-codes. The method further comprises the steps of generating a new code by combining the sub-codes, correlating the new code with a received signal so as to get a candidate peak, deducing other candidate peaks according to the candidate peak, and verifying all the candidate peaks so as to confirm a real peak. The method and receiver of the invention can lower the calculation complex and promote the acquisition speed.