In the cutting, the high temperature and large pressure existing in the contact area between the rake face of cutting tool and the bottom of workpiece, and the flank face of cutting tool and machined surface near the cutting edge will do a grave harm to the service life of the cutting tool as well as the surface integrity of the workpiece. Surface micro-texture technology, an advanced surface modification technology, can significantly affect the cutting performance exerted by cutter through preparing surface textures with different size parameters, shape parameters, and distribution parameters on the surface of the tool. As the preparation method of the tool surface micro-texture is different, the performance exerted by the micro-texture is also diverse. Therefore, this paper first reviews the most advanced surface micro-texture preparation technologies for cutting tool from such aspects as the preparation technology principle, preparation process, and preparation technology characteristics and so on. Then, the influence law and effecting mechanism of micro-texture on the cutting performance performed by the cutting tool are analyzed from the perspectives of cutting force, cutting temperature, tool wear, chip formation and workpiece surface integrity. In the analysis of the four indicators, namely cutting force, cutting temperature, tool wear and chip formation, more attention is placed on the influence brought by the micro-texture on the rake surface of the cutting tool because the above mentioned four indicators are mainly affected by the interaction of the contact interface between the cutting tool and chip. With contrast, the influences generated by both micro-texture on rake surface and on flank surface of the cutting tool are considered when analyzing surface quality exerted by the workpiece due to the following two aspects. On one hand, the geometry exerted by the flank face of cutting tool directly affects the surface quality performed by the workpiece. On the other hand, the variation in cutting force, cutting temperature, tool wear and chip formation will indirectly the interaction between the flank face of cutting tool and the surface of workpiece, thereby affecting the surface quality exerted by the workpiece. After analyzing the influence brought by the micro-texture on the rake face and on flank face of the cutting tool to the workpiece surface quality, the current research hotspots of micro-texture are introduced. They involve the synergistic effects of micro-texture combined with blunt cutting edge and lubricants respectively on cutting performance, the derivative cutting behavior of micro-texture tool during the cutting process. When analyzing the synergistic effects between the micro-texture and blunt cutting edge, the influence of the combination of different tool passivation technologies and different micro-texture parameters on the performance exerted by cutting tool are investigated. When exploring the synergistic effects between the micro-texture and lubricants, the combination of the micro-texture with solid lubricants and liquid lubricants respectively are also included, in which the unique characteristic exerted by micro-texture and lubricants are analyzed respectively. By summarizing and analyzing literatures, numerous possibilities of research about surface micro-texture in the future are given, which can provide helpful design for the further optimization of cutting tool.