Measurement technology is constantly developing in the direction of precision, intelligence and integration, and one of the most representative methods is chromatic confocal microscopy (CCM). CCM is developed on the basis of laser scanning confocal microscope, using the dispersion principle and spectrometer decoding analysis to achieve high-precision measurement. CCM can perform displacement measurement, 3D reconstruction, surface roughness inspection and thickness inspection, and has the advantages of contactless, high efficiency and online measurement, which are playing an important role in precision measurement and widely used in microelectronics, engineering materials, biomedical and aerospace fields. In recent years, significant developments have been made in various aspects of CCM systems, such as optical system structure, optical lens design, light source optimization and data processing algorithms. This paper reviews the chromatic confocal microscopy based on extensive research, discusses the advantages of CCM compared with other measurement methods, reviews the measurement principle, development history and application progress of chromatic confocal microscopy, and outlooks the development trend of CCM.