Ce3+ doped Y3Al5O12∶Ce3+ yellow phosphors are prepared by the high-temperature solid-state method, sol-gel method and hydrothermal-pyrolysis methods. The influences of the preparation methods on the phase, morphology and photoluminescence properties of the YAG∶Ce3+ yellow phosphors are investigated by XRD, FESEM and PL, respectively. The results indicate that the three methods all realize the substitution of Ce3+ ions for Y3+ ions, and that the cubic crystalline structure of the Ce3+-doped YAG phosphors is unchanged. The samples prepared by the high-temperature solid-state method present an irregular sphere-like morphology, with a large sample size; the sol-gel method produces nanoparticles with a notable particle agglomeration; and the samples prepared by the hydrothermal-pyrolysis method present a well-distributed sphere-like structure with a diameter of 10 μm. According to the fluorescence spectrum, the three samples are excited by blue light with a wavelength of 460 nm, and a big broadband emission at 550 nm is observed. However, due to the differences in the morphology and size, these samples present very different luminous intensities and quantum efficiencies.