Abstract: Acute alcoholic liver injury resulting from the large quantity and high frequency of alcohol intake over a short time seriously harms patients’ health, and has increased significantly in recent years. Natural polyphenols, which are bioactive compounds extracted from plants, possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and demonstrate higher drug-like properties due to their unique chemical structures. Currently, dozens of natural polyphenols have been identified with therapeutic effects for acute alcoholic liver injury, and exploring the relevant mechanisms will undoubtedly provide important reference for their depth development as well as new drug design. This review firstly introduce the pathogenesis of acute alcoholic liver injury, and then summarize the mechanisms of treating acute alcoholic liver injury by natural polyphenols based on their structure and function, and finally propose the research focus for future development of natural polyphenols.