Ordos Basin is rich in hydrocarbon resources，in which the organic-rich shale in Chang7 Member of Yanchang Formation is an important stratum for shale gas exploration. The previous studies lack systematic analysis of the shale in Chang7 Member in the southeast of Ordos Basin，which fail to accurately reflect the real exploration potential of shale.Based on the analysis of development characteristic，we take the shale in Chang7 Member in the southeast of Ordos Basin as the research object to evaluate its exploration potential from three aspects：gas generation potential，gas storage potential，and development potential by petrographic analysis and the five-index methods. The petrographic analysis is used to evaluate gas storage potential. In terms of total organic carbon content，content of brittle minerals（quartz，feldspar，carbonate，etc.），and relative content of clay minerals，the shale in Chang7 Member is divided into four categories，among which dark organic-rich brittle shale has the highest development potential. The five-index method is adopted to evaluate gas generation potential and development potential through the combination of five indexes. The indexes for evaluating gas generation potential are gas absorption ratio，organic-matter conversion rate，gas drying coefficient，total organic carbon content，and vitrinite reflectance；those for development potential are shale thickness，content of brittle minerals，formation pressure coefficient，total organic carbon content，and vitrinite reflectance. Finally，the data obtained by the two methods are combined to select five horizons with the most favorable exploration potential of shale in Chang7 Member：N3，N5，N6，N7，and N10.