The present invention provides a rinsing method capable of satisfactorily rinsing the surface of a resist film regardless of the condition of the surface of the resist film so that development defects caused by residuals produced by development may be reduced. A rinsing method of rinsing a substrate processed by a developing process for developing an exposed pattern comprises the steps of discharging a rinsing liquid onto a central part of the substrate processed by the developing process and coated with a developer puddle while the substrate is stopped or rotated (step 5), stopping discharging the rinsing liquid in a state where the developer puddle remains at least in a peripheral part of the substrate (step 6), and rotating the substrate at a high rotating speed to shake the developer remaining on the substrate off the substrate together with the rinsing liquid (step 7).