Abstract: The present application provide an air purifier and a cleaning method for same The air purifier includes: a housing, which is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet and a detachable door panel; a protective cover, which is detachably disposed on an inner wall of the housing and opposite to the door panel, and located between the air inlet and the air outlet; and an electrostatic filter element, which includes an emission assembly and a collection assembly, the emission assembly and the collection assembly are detachably disposed in the protective cover, the emission assembly is located at a side of the collection assembly close to the air inlet. The detachable protective cover is provided to facilitate washing and protect the housing. The emission assembly and the collection assembly are detachably mounted in the protective cover, so that they can be separately cleaned.