Nanoporous materials and their study gained tremendous significance in view of their potential applications such as drug delivery, water purification, biosensing, electronics and storage etc. Based on their synthesis with required shape and size make them application oriented. Nanoporous materials are materials with pore size of hundred nanometres or less. They have inorganic or organic framework supporting regular porous structure. The pores in these materials are occupied with fluid. These materials represent a transition from atom to solid in which pores of uniform shape and diameter need to be obtained for them to be used in some applications. Nanoporous materials possess specific electric, optical and magnetic properties that make them highly potential in applications related to signal transmission, energy, biological applications, catalysis, gas storage and medicine. In spite of existing nanoporous by nature tailored materials can be produced with combination of polymers with different melting points. A nanoporous material with accurate pore sizes allow certain matter to pass through, while blocking others. In view of their tailored properties they find extensive applications at present and in near future. Keeping this in mind, an attempt was made to review the potential applications of these materials with more emphasis on water treatment and drug delivery reported in the last five years in a nut shell.