Water pollution and water scarcity is considered worldwide as a severe problem. It has motivated researchers to develop more effective wastewater treatment techniques for their reuse. Many governmental agencies are cataloging the increase of complex metals and compounds in industrial wastewater because of their toxicity and tenacity. Traditional extraction methods of industrial wastewater can appreciate the mending of some parts of heavy metals with clean production and less efficient resource recovery. In recent decades, there has been research on emerging the methods of heavy metal ions from wastewater. To overcome the limitations of traditional extraction treatment methods by introducing the enchanted material called ionic liquid, that is considered to be anew green solvent (neoteric solvent, designer solvent, ionic fluid, molten salt), that substitutes the conventional solvents with many advanced and better properties that is not available in traditional extractors. Ionic liquid has evident advantages over traditional organic solvents and has a wide range of applications in various areas especially as a kind of extracting agent for heavy metal ions. The research and application status of ionic liquid is reviewed and discussed the extraction processes of traditional technologies for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. This review summarizes the applications of ionic liquids in the determination of heavy metals in wastewater. Also, study the future developments and prospects of ionic liquid for the extraction of heavy metals. According to the results, the application of ionic liquids is likely to be increase in the future.