Cemented carbides are widely used in modern industry and new technology development as the promising tool materials and structural materials due to their excellent physical and mechanical properties,such as high hardness and strength,superior chemical stability,high toughness and strong wear resistance.However,cemented carbides are notoriously difficult to machine owing to several inherent properties including high brittleness and low facture toughness,which leads to cracks and pits on the machining surface,poor surface finish and low machining performance,resulting in a major obstacle to the development of cemented carbides.In this paper,the classification,performance and machining characteristics of ce-mented carbide are analyzed,and the research status of machining cemented carbides are studied.In addition,the advanta-ges and disadvantages,development trend and existing problems of various machining methods and their effects on the sur-face quality of cemented carbide are summarized,which provides a reference for the high precision and high efficient machi-ning of cemented carbide.