The Chinese national standard for paper ash measurement cannot meet the requirements for accurate and rapid ash measurement in actual production and scientific research because of the long measuring time, tedious procedures, and large human error. This paper reviews some worldwide devices and methods for rapid measurement of paper ash, including ceramic fiber muffle furnace, microwave muffle furnace, the addition of ash adjuvant, dry samples method, direct combustion of paper samples, oxygen-enriched combustion method, chemical analysis method, and ray method, etc. The differences and relationships are identified among these devices and methods. By comparing the different ash measurement methods, the rapid ash analyzer based on X-ray technology has the obvious advantages of short measuring time and small error. Lastly, the present situation and the development potential of these devices and methods are discussed in this review.