The analysis of forensic DNA plays an irreplaceable role in criminal investigation. Forensic DNA identification is facing challenges while dealing with complex cases. The discovery of novel genetic markers for multiple forensic purposes exhibits important application value and scientific significance. Microhaplotype is a type of novel genetic marker，which is defined by two or more closely linked single nucleotide polymorphisms（SNPs）within a short length of DNA fragment. Thus，the multiple allelic combination of SNPs leads to high polymorphism of microhaplotype. It combines strengths of short tandem repeat（STR）and SNP，with relatively high polymorphism and extremely low mutation rate，while applied in forensic identification. Recent researches reveal that microhaplotype possesses unique advantages in ancestry inference，personal identification and paternity testing，as well as great potential in unbalanced DNA mixture analysis and degraded or trace DNA detection. This review summarized the concepts and characteristics，retrospected the research achievements and discussed the challenges in the application of microhaplotype，aiming at exploring a brighter future of microhaplotype in forensic application.