Laser shock processing is an advanced surface technology to strengthen metal materials by the laser-induced plasma shock wave, thus getting more and more applications and researches, and playing an important role in improving fatigue properties of components and extending service life of materials due to its technical advantages, such as better strengthening effect, stronger controllability and better applicability, etc. The development of laser shock processing was briefly introduced, and the laser parameters, confinement layer, absorbing protective layer, laser shocked angle and other influencing parameters were emphatically analyzed and summarized, respectively. The laser parameters are the most important factors to determine the strengthening effect and the optimal laser power density, optimum spot overlap ratio, suitable laser shocked times and appropriate laser pulse width can be selected to significantly improve the strengthening effect. For the different material forms, the appropriate confinement layer and the absorbing protective layer should be selected to improve the laser transmittance and prevent the laser ablation of the material in near surface. In addition, the laser shocked angle should be considered, and the appropriate suitable laser shocked angle can realize the laser shock processing for complex structure. Therefore, the influence parameters of laser shock processing should be considered comprehensively, to provide a theoretical basis for obtaining the best strengthening effect of laser shock processing.