Abstract: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis(IPF) is a kind of age-related pulmonary fibrosis disease with complex etiology. The pathogenesis of IPF is progressive and irreversible, which eventually leads to respiratory failure and death. In recent years, autophagy has been proved to be involved in the development of IPF. This review summarized the clinical research, animal and cell model research related to autophagy and IPF, and the drug treatment research based on the autophagy. It is hoped that this review will be helpful to clarify the pathological mechanism and drug development of IPF.