Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common diseases, which is characterized by persistent airway obstruction, ventilation-perfusion imbalance and diffusion disorder. With the therapeutic advantages of increasing positive end-expiratory pressure, washing out the air in the pharyngeal dead space, reducing CO₂ re-inhalation, improving alveolar ventilation, and better comfort, high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy has been applied as the first-line oxygen therapy strategy in COPD patients. However, there is still not enough evidence to support which kind of COPD patients will benefit from HFNC most and we reviewed recent studies in application of HFNC in COPD patients in this paper.