This article provides a comprehensive review of various techniques for measuring residual stress, including their principles, development history, applications, and limitations. Residual stress, which refers to self-equilibrating stress within materials, can significantly affect manufacturing processes and material performance. The study begins by discussing destructive techniques such as the hole-drilling method, ring-core method, deep hole drilling method, slitting method, and contour method. These methods involve strain release techniques where stress is released by removing a portion of the material and then calculated based on the released strain. However, these methods have limitations as they cause damage to the material. The article then evaluates nondestructive techniques based on X-ray/electron diffraction, magnetic signals, and ultrasonic signals. Diffraction methods measure changes in interplanar spacing within the material, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), neutron diffraction, and synchrotron XRD. The magnetic method, primarily applicable to ferromagnetic metals, uses the relationship between magnetic properties and residual stress. Ultrasonic methods measure changes in acoustic properties due to residual stress. Finally, the article highlights a newly developed technique that combines incremental focused ion beam (FIB) milling and digital image correlation (DIC). This technique provides accurate measurements of absolute stress on the microscopic scale. The review aims to guide further investigations on residual stress measurement and identify future development trends in this domain.This article provides a comprehensive review of various techniques for measuring residual stress, including their principles, development history, applications, and limitations. Residual stress, which refers to self-equilibrating stress within materials, can significantly affect manufacturing processes and material performance. The study begins by discussing destructive techniques such as the hole-drilling method, ring-core method, deep hole drilling method, slitting method, and contour method. These methods involve strain release techniques where stress is released by removing a portion of the material and then calculated based on the released strain. However, these methods have limitations as they cause damage to the material. The article then evaluates nondestructive techniques based on X-ray/electron diffraction, magnetic signals, and ultrasonic signals. Diffraction methods measure changes in interplanar spacing within the material, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), neutron diffraction, and synchrotron XRD. The magnetic method, primarily applicable to ferromagnetic metals, uses the relationship between magnetic properties and residual stress. Ultrasonic methods measure changes in acoustic properties due to residual stress. Finally, the article highlights a newly developed technique that combines incremental focused ion beam (FIB) milling and digital image correlation (DIC). This technique provides accurate measurements of absolute stress on the microscopic scale. The review aims to guide further investigations on residual stress measurement and identify future development trends in this domain.