To provide a method for cooling a hot-rolled steel sheet with which stable control to temperature of the steel sheet is performed, even in the temperature range having large variation of the heat transfer rate.

In the method for cooling the hot-rolled steel sheet, with which the steel sheet temperature before a cooling device 7 is controlled to a prescribed coiling target temperature by cooling in a cooling line 4 until the steel sheet 10 after finish-rolling comes to the coiling device 7, the cooling rate is controlled with a main cooling means 5 so that the steel sheet temperature before the coiling device 7 becomes the coiling target temperature, with a water-cooling in the main cooling means 5 arranged at the most upstream side of the cooling line 4 and an air-cooling till coming to the coiling device 7. Then, when the steel sheet temperature does not become the cooling target temperature, or when it is predicted to such state, the water-cooling is applied in the finish cooling means 6 arranged at the lowest stream side of the cooling line 4.