Carbene BÀ H insertion reactions represent an efficient method for CÀ B bond formation, which have experienced great advances in recent years. Free and metal carbene insertion into BÀ H bonds based on diazo and nondiazo carbene precursors, including α-diazoesters, α-diazoketones, hydrazones, chloroforms, acylsilanes, alkenyl triflates, alkynes and sulfoxonium ylides have been well studied. The development of this chemistry complements existing CÀ B bond formation strategies in terms of substrate scope, selectivity and product diversity. Notably, the catalytic enantioselective carbene BÀ H insertion reactions enable easy access to the challenging but important chiral organoboron compounds. This review provides a timely overview on this research topic. Typical achievements in reaction methodologies, plausible reaction mechanisms, as well as applications in the synthesis of bioactive molecules are summarized.