Disclosed in the present invention is a method for extracting nickel from a high matte nickel leaching residue. The method comprises: firstly, adding a crushed material of a high matte nickel leaching residue to an organic solvent in which sulfur is dissolved, heating same for reaction, and carrying out solid-liquid separation to obtain a first filtrate and a first filter residue; adding the first filter residue to a copper sulfate solution, heating same for reaction, and carrying out solid-liquid separation to obtain a second filtrate and a second filter residue; and evaporating, condensing and concentrating the second filtrate, and filtering same to obtain copper sulfate crystals and a nickel-containing filtrate. Throughout the whole reaction, only a small amount of sulfur and copper sulfate are consumed, and the organic solvent can be recycled.