Sentinel lymph node biopsy is important for axillary staging and de-escalated axillary management in early breast cancer. The selection and optimization of tracing techniques directly affect the sentinel lymph node detection rate, false-negative risk and clinical decision-making. Currently, there are many tracing techniques for sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer, including blue and other visible dyes, radioactive tracers, near-infrared fluorescence, magnetic nanoparticle tracers, contrast-enhanced ultrasound and multimodal tracing. These tracing techniques vary in their clinical applications. This article reviews recent advances in sentinel lymph node tracing techniques for breast cancer, focusing on the principles, advantages, limitations and clinical applicability of each tracing technique. Based on breast surgery practice in China, this article analyzes the current application of tracers highly available or domestically developed in China, such as methylene blue, carbon nanoparticles and indocyanine green, and further discusses sentinel lymph node tracing strategies in patients who have received neoadjuvant therapy. In China, the development of SLN tracing techniques should take into account both the available evidence and the disparities in medical resources, strengthen standardized training, quality control, and multicenter studies, and promote both the dissemination of appropriate technologies to lower-tier institutions and the translation of new techniques, thereby advancing axillary management in breast cancer toward a more precise, minimally invasive, and individualized approach.