A method for manufacturing a silica membrane filter includes performing, at least once, a fired membrane forming operation having a membrane forming step of applying, to a porous substrate, a precursor sol which is a sol of a silicon alcoxide including a p-tolyl group to form a precursor sol membrane, a drying step of drying the precursor sol membrane formed in the porous substrate to form a dried membrane, and a firing step of firing the dried membrane formed in the porous substrate to form a fired membrane, thereby preparing the silica membrane filter including the porous substrate and a silica membrane which is the fired membrane formed in the porous substrate, and a ratio of a total mass of the silica membrane to a total mass of the dried membrane is 38 mass % or more and 85 mass % or less.