Pancreatic exocrine function examination is mainly divided into direct examination and indirect examination methods. Direct examination methods include secretin test, secretin-caerulein test, endoscopic pancreatic function test, secretin-stimulated magnetic resonance pancreatography, Lundh test, etc. Indirect examination methods are comprised of routine serological testing, fecal fat detection, fecal enzyme detection, breath test, urine analysis of specific substances and so on. Direct examination has higher accuracy than indirect examination, but it is more invasive and cumbersome than noninvasive indirect examination. In this review, we summarized the clinical application and progress of pancreatic exocrine function examination.