AbstractIn the present paper, we derive a fast H3N3‐2‐based compact alternating direction implicit (ADI) scheme for the time fractional wave equation in two‐dimensional spatial domains. The time fractional derivative involved in the equation is discretized by the H3N3‐2 formula combined with sum‐of‐exponential technique. The former was first proposed by Du et al., while the latter has become a widely used technique to reduce the computational cost in the processing of convolution integrals. The spatial discretization adopts the standard compact ADI method, which can ensure that the space can reach the fourth‐order accuracy without increasing the amount of computation. The numerical stability and convergence of the difference scheme are analyzed rigorously. As an auxiliary illustration, a numerical example is given to verify the validity of the theoretical findings.