Disclosed is an electric starter with a manual turning function. A main shaft, a drive gear mechanism, a shift fork, an electromagnetic relay guide rod and a first return spring are arranged in a housing of the electric starter. A gear shifting mechanism comprises a force receiving component which extends out of the housing of the electric starter and serves as an external force applying point so as to promote the electromagnetic relay guide rod to move rightwards, a normally closed switch for cutting off a power supply of the electric starter when the force receiving component moves to an extreme position, a positioning component for locking the force receiving component when the force receiving component moves to the extreme position, and a first return component which enables the force receiving component to automatically returns to an original state when the force receiving component is unlocked. The main shaft is indirectly driven to rotate by the turning mechanism via a transmission mechanism or directly driven to rotate by the turning mechanism via a turning tool. An improvement is made to a structure of a traditional electric starter without affecting existing functions thereof, i.e., a function of manual turning is added. Therefore, a flywheel gear of a motor can be precisely positioned during maintenance so as to improve efficiency and eliminate potential safety hazards.