Purpose Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) combined with multi-user massive MIMO has been a well-known approach for high spectral efficiency in wideband systems, and it was targeted to detect the MIMO signals. The increasing data rates with multiple antennas and multiple users that share the communication channel simultaneously lead to higher capacity requirements and increased complexity. Thus, different detection algorithms were developed for the Massive MIMO. Design/methodology/approach This paper focuses on the various literature analyzes on various detection algorithms and techniques for MIMO detectors. Here, it reviews several research papers and exhibits the significance of each detection method. Findings This paper provides the details of the performance analysis of the MIMO detectors and reveals the best value in the case of each performance measure. Finally, it widens the research issues that can be useful for future researchers to be accomplished in MIMO massive detectors Originality/value This paper has presented a detailed review of the detection of massive MIMO on different algorithms and techniques. The survey mainly focuses on different types of channels used in MIMO detections, the number of antennas used in transmitting signals from the source to destination, and vice-versa. The performance measures and the best performance of each of the detectors are described.