Abstract: Cellulose，a sustainable development of renewable resources，is abundant in nature. The application of modified cellulose is of great significance to ease the future energy and environmental stress. This paper reviews recent progress in cellulose modification，especially in chemical modification of cellulose derivatives. Cellulose pretreatment is often the first step in cellulose modification，including physical and chemical method etc. Modified cellulose materials include cellulose esters，cellulose ethers，and grafted copolymers. Biological modification of cellulose is mainly used in paper-making industry to treat pulp using cellulose and hemi-cellulose enzymes. Modification of bacterial cellulose includes bio-modification during fermentation and chemical modification after purification. Finally，prospects for modified cellulose application is discussed.