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Copper is an essential element in living systems and plays an important role in human physiology; therefore, methods to detect the concentration of copper ions in living organisms are important. Herein, we report a highly water-soluble naphthalimide-based fluorescent probe that can be used for the detection of Cu 2+ . The probe, BNQ, has high selectivity and sensitivity. The fluorescence intensity of the probe at 520 nm was visible to the naked eye under a UV lamp; upon the gradual addition of Cu 2+ , there was a colour change from green to nearly colourless. Furthermore, the detection limit of BNQ for Cu 2+ was 45.5 nM. The detection mechanism was investigated using a Job's plot and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In addition, owing to great biocompatibility, we were able to successfully use BNQ to detect Cu 2+ in living HeLa cells with low toxicity., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)