Agarwood is both a traditional Chinese medicine and a famous spice.The volatile oil is the key material basis for agarwood to exert its medicinal effects and present fragrance,which is widely used in medicine,religious ceremonies,beauty and fragrance industries.Modern research indicates that varied extraction methods had influences on the type and contents of compound in agarwood volatile oils.These volatile oils mainly contain sesquiterpenoids and aromatic compounds,some marker compounds of which are closely related to its quality classification.Pharmacological research found that agarwood volatile oil has antioxidant and antibacterial,analgesic and sedative,anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities.At present,the study of agarwood volatile oil is still at the basic stage,and its medicinal substance basis and quality index value urgently need further exploration.This paper reviews the extraction methods,chemical composition and activity research of agarwood volatile oil by reviewing the literature on agarwood volatile oil in the past ten years,in order to provide a reference for further research,application and development of agarwood volatile oil.