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BACKGROUND: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technology has been widely used in neuropsychology, rehabilitation medicine, and pediatrics, due to its advantages of painlessness, non-invasiveness, effectiveness and safety. However, there is yet no visual analysis of literature on TMS for treating stroke. OBJECTIVE: To objectively analyze global research on TMS in the treatment of stroke in recent 10 years, and summarize the recent research direction of this field and sort out the knowledge structure worldwide. METHODS: Based on the relevant literature on TMS for stroke in databases of CNKI and Web of Science, Citespace software was used to visualize the use of TMS in the treatment of stroke. The number, countries, authors, research institutions, keywords, cited references and journals of relevant literatures and funding grants were analyzed to explore the research hotspot and development trend in this field. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 1 729 articles were included in the Web of Science database. Among them, the institution with the most publications was Harvard Medical School, and the country with the most publications was the United States, followed by China. China ranks first in international fund support. The hot keywords included rehabilitation, excitability, motor cortex and etc. As described in a representative English article, TMS therapy at a frequency of 1 Hz was found to improve patients’ motor function to a greater extent. A total of 455 literatures were included in CNKI database. Among them, the institution with the most publications was the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine of Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, and the hot keywords were rehabilitation, depression, motor function, aphasia and so on. As described in a representative Chinese article, high-frequency TMS was found to be more effective than low-frequency TMS in improving post-stroke depression and daily living ability. Further analysis of the results shows that, in recent 10 years, the international research frontier and future development trend mainly focus on the mechanism of TMS on cerebral cortical motor areas and the efficacy of TMS combined with other rehabilitation therapies (motor learning and mirror therapy) in the treatment of various functional disorders after stroke. In China, the research frontier and future trend mainly focus on TMS in the treatment of post-stroke depression and motor function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]