Tetrafluoromethane is the product when any carbon compound, including carbon itself, is burned in an atmosphere of fluorine. With hydrocarbons, hydrogen fluoride is a coproduct. It was first reported in 1926. It can also be prepared by the fluorination of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide or phosgene with sulfur tetrafluoride. Commercially it is manufactured by the reaction of hydrogen fluoride with dichlorodifluoromethane or chlorotrifluoromethane; it is also produced during the electrolysis of metal fluorides MF, MF using a carbon electrode.
Although it can be made from a myriad of precursors and fluorine, elemental fluorine is expensive and difficult to handle. Consequently,  is prepared on an industrial scale using hydrogen fluoride:
:CClF + 2 HF → CF + 2 HCl