Glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and chronic axonal degeneration, is often associated with elevated intraocular pressure.Autophagy, which means self-eating, is a mechanism of cell degradation and recycling.Excessive autophagy or impaired autophagy may lead to cell dysfunction and even cell death.Recent studies have shown that autophagy is closely related to trabecular meshwork cell dysfunction, RGCs apoptosis and optic nerve degeneration caused by different factors, including oxidative stress, mechanical stimulation, high intraocular pressure, axon injury, genetic factors and so on.Regulating autophagy to protect RGCs may provide new ideas for glaucoma treatments.In this article, the definition and classification of autophagy, the regulation of autophagy, the role of autophagy in the process of oxidative stress and mechanical stimulation on the function of trabecular meshwork cells, and the impact of autophagy on RGCs under high intraocular pressure and RGCs axonal injury, the relationship between autophagy and apoptosis in RGCs, as well as the latest research results on autophagy and hereditary optic nerve degeneration, regulation of autophagy via gene and drug for the treatment of glaucoma were reviewed.