The invention discloses an integral hoisting method for a hydraulic cylinder in limited space. The method comprises the following steps that after a unit tail water tunnel is emptied, a maintainer enters the lower part of a gate groove through a tail man door, bottom positioning frames are vertically and symmetrically arranged right under a gate and are used for supporting a gate body, and meanwhile, leakage water at a bottom space tunnel is discharged; after the gate falls down and sits on the bottom positioning frames, a hydraulic cylinder lifting head is disassembled; and an oil station isstarted, a piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder is retracted, and a hydraulic locking part is put. According to the integral hoisting method of the hydraulic cylinder in the limited space, under the condition that a special tool is not required to be manufactured, a planning scheme is precisely calculated by using existing equipment, the psychological pressure and the injury risk of the maintainerworking in the limited space for a long time can be greatly eliminated, meanwhile, the unnecessary disassembling process is omitted, an equipment body is greatly protected, and the service life of the equipment is prolonged.