Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common clinically critical illness that can develop into acute respiratory distress syndrome and even lead to death. Currently, there is no effective treatment method. In different pathophysiological conditions, neutrophils manifest many different forms of death, such as neutrophil extracellular traps, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, apoptosis, autophagy, necrosis and necroptosis. Different forms of neutrophil death play distinct roles in the occurrence and development of ALI. This review summarizes the different forms of neutrophil death and their role in ALI and aims to provide new ideas and new targets for exploring the mechanism and prevention and treatment strategies of ALI.