Commutation failure is one of the common faults in LCC-HVDC transmission systems, threatening safety and stability of power grid. To focus on the key issues of commutation failure and reduce commutation failure frequency, a review of commutation failure in LCC-HVDC transmission systems is given in this paper. Firstly, the mechanism of commutation failure is analyzed from both device and system aspects. Since commutation failures are mostly caused by AC system faults on the inverter side, commutation failures are classified into three categories: first commutation failure, continuous commutation failure during the fault period and commutation failure after the fault. Then, the influencing factors and prevention methods of commutation failure in each category are summarized. Finally, the problems to be solved in the field of commutation failure are pointed out.