The invention discloses a preparation method of a nickel-plated low-carbon steel wire. The method comprises the steps of alkali washing activation, acid washing, drawing annealing, zinc immersion, pre-plating nickel, nickel plating, drying, heat treatment and taking-up. According to the method, the preparation process is optimized, an oxidation film layer on the surface of a product can be removedby adopting a zinc immersion process design, and a uniform and dense zinc film can be formed, the binding property of subsequent nickel plating is improved, and the compactness of a coating is improved; an alkaline chemical nickel plating pre-plating process is adopted, so that the zinc film layer can be prevented from being poisoned by an acidic chemical nickel plating solution, so that the useof the chemical nickel plating solution can be shortened, the dissolution of the zinc film layer can be effectively inhibited, a thin, fine and uniform nickel plating layer can be obtained to protectthe zinc film layer, and meanwhile, the subsequent chemical nickel plating processing is facilitated, the nickel plating binding property is improved; the nickel plating process is optimized, the porosity of the coating, the uniformity of the coating is improved, the hardness of the coating is ensured, and meanwhile, the binding force is increased.