In recent years, the unconventional oil and gas exploration and development has made important progress in  China. Hydraulic fracturing technology has become an important measure to increase oil and gas production. As an important part of fracturing technology, proppants have attracted attention in terms of the types, parameters, fracturing fluid carrying and self-migration. Fracturing proppant is an important material for supporting fractures to keep open during hydraulic fracturing, which is the key to improve unconventional oil and gas recovery. However, fracturing proppants are faced with the problems of resource depletion and high production costs caused by over-exploitation of raw materials. In order to solve these problems, the preparation of fracturing proppants from coal-based solid wastes that are consistent with the composition of fracturing proppant raw materials has attracted much attention. The production, properties and comprehensive utilization of coal-based solid wastes were summarized. The research progress of fracturing proppants prepared from coal-based solid wastes at home and abroad was mainly discussed. Coal gangue and fly ash are the most common and polluted coal-based solid wastes, and their chemical compositions are mainly composed of SiO2 and Al2O3. Pore can be produced by CO2, water vapor and organic matter in the residual carbon and the decomposition of organic matter in coal gangue and fly ash during the sintering process, which are wrapped by the liquid phase to form closed pores, playing a similar role as pore-forming agent, to effectively reduce the apparent density and volume density of fracturing proppant and improve the conductivity of proppant. The use of coal-based solid waste to prepare fracturing proppants cannot only effectively reduce the consumption of natural minerals, reduce production costs and alleviate environmental pollution, but also obtain fracturing proppants that meet industry standards, realizing the resource utilization of coal-based solid waste. Finally, the development and application trends of fracturing proppants prepared from coal-based solid wastes were prospected. Proppant materials will develop towards low-cost, low density, high-strength and multi-functional development direction in the future.