Objective To systematically investigate the diagnostic value of GeneXpert MTB/RIF essays in cerebrospinal fluid for tuberculous meningitis. Methods Relevant Chinese and English publications from the establishment of the database up to November 2021 about the diagnostic accuracy of GeneXpert MTB/RIF essays to tuberculous meningitis were searched in Pubmed，OVid， Embase， Scopus，Web of Science， Cochrane Library， CNKI，VIP and Wanfang databases. Then RevMan 5.3 and Meta-Disc 1.4 software were used to assess the quality of studies and conduct statistical analysis respectively. Sensitivity，specificity，positive likelihood ratio（PLR），negative likelihood ratio （NLR） and diagnostic odds of radio （DOR） were pooled. Summary receiver operating characteristic （SROC） curves and area under the curve （AUC） were calculated. Results A total of 28 articles were recruited， including 5 137 specimens from clinical patients. Meta-analysis showed that the pooled sensitivity and specificity of GeneXpert MTB/RIF essays for diagnosing tuberculous meningitis is 0.412 （95%CI： 0.392-0.431） and 0.967 （95%CI： 0.961-0.973） respectively.When using composite neference standard as the diagnostic standard，the pooled sensitivity and specificity is 0.362 （95%CI： 0.340-0.384） and 0.973 （95%CI：0.964-0.980）.When using the culture of mycobacterium tuberculosis as the standard， the pooled sensitivity and specificity is 0.589 （95%CI： 0.547-0.630） and 0.961 （95%CI： 0.950-0.970）. After centrifugation of cerebrospinal fluid， the pooled sensitivity and specificity is 0.431（95%CI： 0.405-0.456） and 0.966 （95%CI： 0.957-0.973）. In the case of HIV infection， the pooled sensitivity and specificity is 0.405（95%CI：0.375- 0.434） and 0.967 （95%CI： 0.956-0.976）. Conclusions GeneXpert MTB/RIF essays plays a valuable value in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis if the cerebrospinal fluid is centrifuged. It is recommended to diagnose tuberculous meningitis by using GeneXpert MTB/RIF essays in cerebrospinal fluid.