Drilling fluid has important functions of carrying debris and balancing pressure. In order to adjust its performance, we need to continuously detect the ions in the drilling fluid. The laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technology is adopted to detect metal elements in drilling fluid . From the LIBS analysis of Ca, Na, Mg and K elements in drilling fluid, the optimal detection condition is obtained. The results show that the delay is 400 ns for Ca element, 500 ns for Na, Mg, and K elements. The gate width is 1000 ns for Ca and K elements, and 1500 ns for Na and Mg elements. The application of LIBS on detection of metal elements in drilling fluid is feasible. The establishment of experimental setup, the determination of detection parameters, and other influence factors, can provide valuable reference for further research of LIBS on analysis of drilling fluid.