Nanoporous metals (NPMs) are metals/alloys with a characteristic bicontinuous structure of three-dimensional and nano-sized pores/ligaments. In recent years, NPMs have attracted numerous scientific and technological interests in fields such as electrochemical catalysis and energy storage owing to their high specific areas, desirable chemicasl stability, stable and tunable geometric structure and a diversity of candidate materials. Moreover, NPMs have been considered as a promising candidate with great potentials in applications of sensing and trace detection for their unique surface plasmonic properties originating from submicron scale characteristic dimension of metallic compounds. This article reviews the recent advances in synthesis methods of nanoporous metals as well as their respective advantages and limitations, followed by typical applications of NPMs in detection, actuation and sensing.