The studies focusing on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is developing rapidly of late years. AuNPs are of great importance in biological and chemical researches and applications. Thanks to their special optical properties, AuNPs are widely applied in the visualization detection of biochemicals. By controlling the morphology and sizes, AuNPs can be suitable for the detections of various conditions and targets. In this review, synthetic methods aiming to obtain AuNPs with uniform morphology and sizes are summarized. The applications of AuNPs in the field of visualization detection on three different targets, including latent fingermarks and pathogens, are discussed. The results are promising and could be benefit to further investigations on the field of visualization detection.