Granitic rocks are the primary components of the continental crust and are crucial for understanding continental evolution and the enrichment mechanisms of critical metals. Water, as the most critical factor in granite formation, plays vital roles in the entire lifetime of granitic magmatic systems. Therefore, accurately determining the water content in granitic magmas and tracing its sources are of great significance for understanding granite petrogenesis. Over the past two decades, advances in insitu U-Pb-Hf-O isotope analysis of zircon have revolutionized our understanding of granite formation. However, the role of water in granite genesis remains poorly constrained, if any, on the qualitative basis. This paper, based on a review of recent studies on water in zircon, integrates U-Pb-Hf-O isotope analysis of zircon with hydrogen isotope analysis of apatite to establish a tracing system for the content and sources of water in granite. Using Late Mesozoic granites from the North China Craton as an example, we demonstrate the application potential of this methodological framework and discuss future research directions in this field.