For example, the PbS NCs are used as light-absorbing materials in photodetectors and solar cells due to the strong optical absorption in nearinfrared regions. [7] The CdSe-based NCs have been heavily investigated in LEDs aiming to realize full-color display because of their narrow photoluminescence (PL) line widths and the wide tunable spectral range. [8] Due to the high surface-area-tovolume ratio, molecules or ions ligands that bind to the under-coordinated sites on NCs surface to keep the colloidal stability are imperative. [9] The ligands usually have two heads connected by alkyl chain. One of the heads is polar group (e.g., carboxy group, ammonium group) that coordinates with the NCs surface atoms. Another head is nonpolar group (e.g., alkyl group) that stretches into solution. The ligands not only offer colloidal stability but also play critical roles through all lifetimes of NCs. Before reaction, ligands coordinate with reagent to form soluble precursors in the solution. During reaction, the ligands can regulate crystallization kinetics through affecting supplying rate of the precursors and the formation of monomers thus affecting the size and shape of NCs. Beyond these, ligands can also terminate the growth of NCs and prevent undesired ripening. Even after synthesis, the surface defects of NCs can be eliminated through post-treatment by ligands.Ligands are indispensable for perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) throughout the whole lifetime, as they not only play key roles in the controllable synthesis of NCs with different sizes and shapes, but also act as capping shell that affects optical properties and electrical coupling of NCs. Establishing a systematic understanding of the relationship between ligands and perovskite NCs is significant to enable many potential applications of NCs. This review mainly focuses on the influence of ligands on perovskite NCs. First of all, the ligandsdominated size and shape control of NCs is discussed. Whereafter, the surface defects of NCs and the bonding between ligands and perovskite NCs are classified, and corresponding post-treatment of surface defects via ligands is also summarized. Furthermore, advances in engineering the ligands towards the high performance of optoelectronic devices based on perovskite NCs, including photodetector, solar cell, light emitting diode (LED), and laser, and finally to potential challenges are also discussed.