Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a disease characterized by excessive accumulation of liver fat in patients with less or no alcohol consumption. Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved intracellular degradation function, which is of great significance to hepatic homeostasis and can delay the occurrence and development of NAFLD to a certain extent. Based on autophagy regulation, the mechanism of action in the treatment of NAFLD was reviewed from three aspects:traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound formulas, TCM crude extracts and TCM active components. It was found that TCM can inhibit the occurrence and development of liver steatosis and NAFLD by regulating autophagy of hepatocytes. It was also believed that TCM induced autophagy of hepatocytes may be a new therapeutic strategy for NAFLD. In the conclusion part, the limitations of the current research and the challenges faced by TCM modernization were pointed out for the purpose of providing information for the future innovative drug research and treatment development of NAFLD.