New psychoactive substances (NPSs) are a new type of drugs characterized by their strong addictive nature and harmfulness. Due to their variety and the rapid creation of new derivatives, they have become key priorities for public security agencies in terms of prevention and enforcement. This has highlighted the need for rapid, sensitive, and selective detection methods. Fluorescent sensors have emerged as a promising solution for NPS detection due to their convenience, low cost, high sensitivity, and excellent selectivity. This paper provides an overview of recent research advancements in fluorescent sensor technology for NPS detection. It introduces organic small molecule fluorescent sensors and fluorescent nanosensors for NPS detection. The paper also highlights the development trends in the field, providing a reference for further development of fluorescent sensors for NPS detection with high targeting efficiency and low background interference.