The invention provides a method for preparing a pressing type barium-tungsten cathode through microwave sintering, and belongs to the technical field of refractory metal cathode materials. Ammonium metatungstate, barium nitrate, calcium nitrate and aluminium nitrate of an analytical reagent are dissolved in deionized water, and after liquid-liquid doping is completed, submicron-order active salt doped tungsten powder is obtained through the combination of spray drying and a two-stage reduction method. Then, the barium-tungsten cathode with a submicron structure is obtained through pressing andmicrowave sintering processes. The experimental result shows that compared with a method for preparing a cathode through conventional sintering, the sintering temperature of the microwave sintering process is low, the sintering time is short, and the sintering power is greatly reduced. The microstructure of the cathode prepared through microwave sintering is obviously improved, the emitting performance of the cathode is improved to a certain degree, the drawn pulse emission current density can reach 6.52 A/cm<2> at the temperature of 1,050 DEG Cb, and compared with the drawn emission currentdensity, being 3.46 A/cm<2>, of the cathode prepared through conventional sintering at the temperature of 1,050 DEG Cb, the pulse emission current density is obviously increased.