Plant samples are easy to wither or rot due to improper preservation methods, exerting great influence on the subsequent virus detection. In order to improve the detection effect of strawberry mottle virus (SMoV) by PCR and clarify the effective storage conditions of plant samples to be detected, strawberry leaves with SMoV infection detected by RT-PCR were used as experimental materials. Three different drying conditions were set up: natural air drying, silica gel drying and calcium oxide (CaO) drying. Total RNA was extracted from strawberry leaves by kit method, and SMoV was detected by RT-PCR with specific primers. After obtaining the optimum dry preserving condition by comparison, several common low temperature and dry treatments were selected as controls to analyze the effects of different preservation methods on the detection of SMoV. The results showed that strawberry leaves containing SMoV had the best PCR detection effect under the condition of CaO drying and preservation with simpler and easier operation. This study provides a reference for efficient and convenient preservation of SMoV in strawberry leaves, and it can be applied to the collection of a large number of samples in the field to improve the detection efficiency.