Belonging to the technical field of adsorption catalysis and air pollution control, the invention relates to preparation of a room temperature formaldehyde catalyst. The invention is characterized in that: zeolite, sepiolite, a porous activated carbon material, cordierite or a self-made carrier is adopted as the catalyst carrier, one or more non-noble metal oxides, like magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide, silicon oxide, manganese oxide, iron oxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, copper oxide, zinc oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide or cerium oxide are taken as active components, and an impregnation technique is employed to prepare the catalyst, which can be powdery, strip, blocky, spherical or honeycomb. The loading amount of the non-noble metal oxides is 2-15wt%, and the content of the catalyst carrier is 85-98%. Under normal temperature and ambient humidity conditions, the catalyst has the capacity of catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde into non-toxic and harmless CO2 and H2O up to over 95%, no intermediate product is generated, and the catalyst has the characteristics of high catalytic oxidation activity, strong moisture resistant ability, stable operation, long service life and the like, thus being suitable for formaldehyde purification treatment in offices, office buildings, living rooms, shopping malls, hospitals, hotels and other places.