<p>Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of porous materials formed by coordination between metal clusters and organic ligands have special physicochemical features, such as high porosity, ultra-high specific surface area, abundant unsaturated metal-ligand active sites, and easy-functionalized multiple structures and functional groups. Hence, MOFs have outstanding performance in the areas of catalysis, adsorption/separation, supercapacitors, drug delivery, and sensing. With the increasing demand for MOFs in various fields, significant advancements have been achieved in MOFs synthesis, but conventional MOFs are powder crystals, which may have the drawbacks of easy clogging and loss of mass during the operation industry. That leads to an increase of operating costs and lower reactivity that are unfavorable in industrial catalysis processes. Therefore, the emergence of monolithic MOFs should not only overcome these shortcomings but also maintain their structures compared with conventional powders, which will greatly promote the development of MOFs in the industrial field. This review summarises the development of the formation of monolithic MOFs with various methods. Following that, it mainly outlines the applications of monolithic MOFs, specifically about the recent advances in catalysis, including conventional catalysis, photocatalysis and electrocatalysis. In addition, the perspective of the challenges for large-scale production and industrial applications of monolithic MOFs are proposed to support the broad applicability of future synthesized monolithic MOFs in catalysis or other areas.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>