Prestonpans (/prɛstənˈpænz/ Scottish Gaelic: Baile an t-Sagairt, Scots: The Pans) is a mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the council area of East Lothian. The population as of 2020 is 10,460. It is near the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans (first called the Battle of Gladsmuir, then renamed the Battle of Tranent, and later still renamed the Battle of Prestonpans – although evidence shows the battle occurred a few miles outside of town). Prestonpans is famous for its murals, with many such artworks depicting local history.

According to legend Prestonpans was founded in the 11th century by a traveller named Althamer, who became shipwrecked on the local beach/coastal area. Finding it impossible to get home, the survivors of the wreck decided to remain where they were and founded a settlement named "Althamer" in honour of their leader. The monks of Newbattle and Holyrood arrived in the district in the 12th century and, by 1198, were undertaking salt manufacturing using pans on the seashore: the settlement, which had been named "Althamer" was renamed "Prestonpans". Preston Tower, an L-plan keep, was built by the Hamilton Family in the mid-15th century.

One of the first post-Reformation churches was built in Prestonpans in 1596, for and at the expense of the new minister, John Davidson. The church was greatly re-modelled in 1774. Ten years after the original building of the new church, Prestonpans became a Parish in its own right, having previously formed part of the Parish of Tranent. Prestonpans Town Hall was completed in 1897.

A war memorial, which commemorates the lives of local service personnel who died in the First World War, Second World War and the Spanish Civil War, stands near the town centre but is slightly obscured by the flanking buildings. It takes the form of a Scottish soldier in a Tam o' Shanter bonnet and greatcoat sculpted by William Birnie Rhind in 1921.

Salt panning was a very important industry in the early history of Prestonpans. By the beginning of the fifteenth century there were 10 salt works belonging to the town capable of producing between 800 and 900 bushels of salt per week. However, Prestonpans was not a one-industry town, and many other industries flourished in Prestonpans and contributed towards the town's growth. The discovery and mining of coal by the Newbattle monks in the early thirteenth century was arguably the first instance of coal mining in Britain. The mining of coal in Prestonpans began in the year 1210, and continued for centuries.

Prestonpans at one point, had many breweries, all of which have now closed. The oldest brewery in Prestonpans belonged to the Fowler family and was built in 1720. The Fowlers obtained it in 1774 and it was in production into the 20th century. There was also a soap works in the town known as James Mellis and Co.

The town was served, for several hundred years, by the harbour at nearby Prestongrange, known as Morrison's Haven or "Acheson's Haven". Fishing boats sailed from the harbour and herring was the most important catch. The harvesting of oysters was a lucrative industry up to the early twentieth century.

The Battle of Prestonpans (also known as the Battle of Gladsmuir) was the first significant conflict in the second Jacobite Rising. The battle took place on 21 September 1745. The Jacobite army loyal to James Francis Edward Stuart and led by his son Charles Edward Stuart defeated the army loyal to the Hanoverian George II led by Sir John Cope. The victory was a huge morale boost for the Jacobites, and a greatly mythologised version of the story entered art and legend. A memorial to the Battle of Prestonpans in the form of a modest stonemason-built cairn sits close to the battle site.