<p>Keratin has a wide range and abundant resources, and its excellent biological properties make it suitable for processing applications. Nanofiber materials are widely used in many fields due to their excellent specific surface area and porosity, as well as their small and uniform fibers. Electrospinning technology has the advantages of easy operation, controllable conditions, and low cost, which gives various characteristics of keratin-based nanofiber membranes. This review elaborates on electrospinning technology, raw material selection, influencing factors (concentration, voltage, receiving distance, etc.), types of keratin-based electrospun nanofiber materials, and application fields of keratin-based electrospun nanofiber membranes (medical dressings, drug release, tissue engineering, flexible sensing). The paper also discusses the shortcomings of keratin-based nanofiber materials and their future development directions, with the aim of improving the microstructure and functional properties of keratin-based nanofiber materials by continuously optimizing reaction conditions and exploring the types of raw materials used in electrospinning, thereby identifying suitable application directions for these materials.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>