Embodiments of the present invention provide an uplink random access method and a related device, thereby improving the success rate of uplink random access. The method includes: determining, by UE, K available root sequences for uplink random access according to a preset policy, where a maximum quantity of detection windows of single UE that can be supported by each of the K available root sequences is 2M+1, and maximum detection windows of the single UE that can be supported by each available root sequence do not overlap with each other, where K≧1, M is a detection window parameter, M>1, and both K and M are integers; and performing, by the UE, uplink random access according to the kth available root sequence of the K available root sequences, where 1≦k≦K and k is an integer. The present invention is applicable to the field of wireless communications.