The review deals with current state and possibilities of the application of fast GC-MS to routine analyses. Different approaches to fast GC and GC-MS are discussed with regard to properties of analytical samples and analysis requirements. Potentials and limitations of most frequent MS instruments, such as quadrupole, ion trap and time-of-flight MS, are compared with regard to the requirements of fast GC. Robustness of different fast GC-MS approaches is also evaluated.