A ratchet wrench includes a handle; a wrench head comprising a first cavity and a second cavity communicating therewith; a drive gear and socket combination rotatably disposed in the first cavity and comprising surface teeth; a reversing pawl comprising pawl teeth on one surface, the pawl teeth meshed with the teeth of the drive gear and socket; a pivotal unit pivotably disposed in the second cavity, the pivotal unit urging against the other surface of the reversing pawl and being adapted to reciprocally pivot about the reversing pawl; and a reversing button assembly moveably disposed on the wrench hand and aligned with an axial direction of the handle. The reversing button assembly is adapted to manually move along a straight line to activate the pivotal unit which pivots the reversing pawl so as to permit the drive gear and socket combination to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise.