Sulfur dioxide is one of the reactive sulfur species, which has significant physiological functions in cells. Some physiological processes are closely related to SO 2 in organisms, and the high concentration of SO 2 in living cells can cause many diseases. In order to investigate the unique function of SO 2 at the subcellular level, developing a molecular tool which could detect of SO 2 within organelles is imperative. Hence, we developed a cationic dye named HQ-SO 2 as a new fluorescent probe to specifically monitor SO 2 , which was easy to obtain through one-step reaction. It took Michael addition reaction as the mechanism of reaction for detection of SO 2 . In addition, this probe showed a series of highly favorable properties such as rapid response rate, low cytotoxicity, high selectivity, low detection limit, and good photostability, which enabled the probe to track SO 2 in living cells.