The development of lithium-ion batteries largely relies on the cathode and anode materials. In particular, the optimization of cathode materials plays an extremely important role in improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries, such as specific capacity or cycling stability. Carbon coating modifying the surface of cathode materials is regarded as an effective strategy that meets the demand of Lithium-ion battery cathodes. This work mainly reviews the modification mechanism and method of carbon coating, and summarizes the recent progress of carbon coating on some typical cathode materials (LiFePO₄, LiMn₂O₄, LiCoO₂, NCA (LiNiCoAlO₂) and NCM (LiNiMnCoO₂)). In addition, the limitations of the carbon coating on the cathode are also introduced. Suggestions on improving the effectiveness of carbon coating for future study are also presented.