The incidence of dry eye is increasing year by year, and it has become one of the most common ophthalmic diseases. The main symptoms of dry eye disease are dry, foreign body sensation, burning in eyes, itchy and viscous secretion. These discomforts affect the daily life, efficiency of work and study, mental health and physical function of patients with dry eye. Dry eye is a multifactorial disease of the ocular surface characterized by a loss of homeostasis of the tear film, and accompanied by ocular symptoms, in which tear film instability and hyperosmolarity, ocular surface inflammation and damage, and neurosensory abnormalities play etiological roles. Meanwhile, there are changes in the tissue structure and ocular surface microenvironment of the eyes of patients with dry eye. In view of the fact that dry eye is an important public health problem, which seriously affects people's visual quality and life quality, studying the pathophysiology of dry eye is of great significance for efficient diagnosis, more targeted treatment and reduction of adverse events. This paper reviewed the research progress in the pathophysiology of dry eye in recent years.