Since late December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) outbreak caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has been rapidly spread across the globe. The early, safe, sensitive, and accurate diagnosis of viral infection is required to decrease and control contagious infection and improve public health surveillance. The diagnosis generally is made by detecting SARS‐CoV‐2‐related agents, including a range of nucleic acid detection‐based, immunoassay‐based, radiographic‐based, and biosensor‐based methods. This review presents the progress of various detection tools for diagnosing COVID‐19 and addresses the advantages and restrictions of each detection method. Given that diagnosis of a contagious various like SARS‐COV‐2 can improve patient survival rates and break the transmission chain, there is no surprise that significant efforts should be made to reduce the limitations of tests that lead to false‐negative results and to develop a substantial test for COVID‐19 diagnosis.