The invention discloses a hanging basket guiding device used for painting the inner wall of a hyperbolic-type cooling tower and a painting method. The device comprises a hanging basket (1), a bearing rope (2), a structural steel support (3) and guiding assemblies. The two ends of the bearing rope (2) are connected with the structural steel support (3) and the hanging basket (1) respectively. Each guiding assembly comprises a guide rail rope (5), a chain hoist, continuous wall ribs (7) and inner thread casing pipes (8). The continuous wall ribs (7) are screwed with the inner thread casing pipes (8). The guide rail ropes (5) are sleeved with lantern rings of the continuous wall ribs (7). The head ends of the guide rail ropes (5) are fixed to a coping ring beam (4). The tail ends of the guide rail ropes (5) are tensioned by the chain hoists. The method is characterized in that during painting, a cant hook is used for hooking the guide rail ropes (5) and drawing the guide rail ropes (5) back so that the hanging basket (1) can get close to the inner wall of the cooling tower (13). According to the hanging basket guiding device used for painting the inner wall of the hyperbolic-type cooling tower and the painting method, the painting process is fast and convenient to conduct, labor is saved, and consumables are reduced.