Cold spraying technology has many advantages over traditional thermal spraying technology, such as low spraying temperature, low oxygen content in coating, low porosity, and unlikely occurrence of oxidation, burning loss and phase change in the spraying process. Consequently, it is possible to prepare (such as oxygen-sensitive, heat-sensitive, amorphous, nanomaterial) coatings which are hardly prepared by conventional spraying techniques. Proceeding from principle of cold spraying technology, various cold spraying equipment and deposition mechanism of cold sprayed coating were introduced, bonding mechanism and bonding forms (mechanical meshing, physical bonding, metallurgical bonding, chemical bonding) of cold sprayed coating were expounded. Various cold spraying equipment (high-pressure cold spraying system, low-pressure cold spraying system, vacuum-cold spraying system, laser-assisted cold spraying system, electrostatic force-assisted cold spraying system, pulsed-gas dynamic spraying system, shock tunnel cold spraying system) and corresponding research status were described. Research and application progress of cold spraying technology in anticorrosive coating, wear-resistant coating, biomedicine, antibacterial coating, electronic industry, functional coating, repair and remanufacturing in recent years was reviewed. Finally, application and future development of cold spraying technology were prospected.