A method for making a field emission display includes the following steps: providing a substrate (11); forming cathode electrodes (21) on the substrate; forming carbon nanotubes (31) on the cathode electrodes; forming a barrier array (41); forming gate electrodes (51) on the barrier array; fixing the barrier array with the gate electrodes to the substrate; packaging a phosphor screen (71) with the substrate. The barrier array is formed by depositing an insulative layer (43) on a shadow mask which defines a plurality of openings (42) according to a pixel pattern of the field emission display. This method employs the known technology for making a shadow mask in the field of CRTs. In addition, the thickness and the material of the insulative layer can be determined according to the insulative performance required for the field emission display. In summary, the present invention provides a field emission display having a barrier array with high precision and low production costs.