In order to ensure the APF to operate stably under the condition that the compensating current exceeds its rated capacity, a novel current-limiting strategy based on load harmonic current reconstruction is proposed for realizing the accurate limitation of selective current outputted by active power filter. Based on the evaluation criteria of using the minimum Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the compensated grid current to construct compensation result, an optimal compensation scheme for active power filter is proposed by adjusting harmonic contents in the current reconstruction waveform. Finally, corresponding experiments are carried out by employing a semi-physical experiment platform, in which current limiting and compensation effect between traditional current limiting strategy and harmonic current reconstruction strategy are compared and analyzed in load current steady state and dynamic state. Experimental results validate the feasibility and superiority of the proposed strategy. This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. U1504518).