Use of ICP-MS for single particle analysis (spICP-MS) can be traced back 3 decades for aerosols and 2 decades for aqueous colloids. Research in this early period was largely focused on improving the collection of time-resolved signals generated by small particles. Several key steps were needed to enable wider application of spICP-MS to environmental, biological, geological, and materials chemistry studies. A major advance was the adoption of the technique by the major instrument manufacturers. This led to operating software for quadrupole MS that shortened dwell times, provided separation of particle-generated signals from background, and utilized solution calibration using transport efficiency. Recent hardware advances include microdroplet generators for calibration and spray chambers that enable single cell analysis. The newest advance in spICP-MS is the introduction of time-of-flight MS to provide multi-element analysis. With this new development comes the need for advances in data processing. While further refinements of spICP-MS instrumentation and methodology are warranted, the technique is at a stage where it can used to answers questions in the fields of science that involve nanoparticles, colloids, and biological cells.