Additive friction stir deposition （AFSD） is an advanced solid-state additive manufacturing（AM）technology. Compared with traditional melt-based additive manufacturing techniques， AFSD offers several advantages including a dense additive structure， low material deformation， high process efficiency and energy savings. It has extensive applications in aerospace equipment manufacturing， transportation， mechanical manufacturing， and other fields. This paper presents a review of the principles， superiorities， microstructure evolution characteristics， and applications of AFSD technology. The focus is on the current research status regarding the correlation between “process conditions-microstructure-mechanical properties” during the AFSD process， and the mechanical properties of deposited materials are affected by the flow state of materials， interfacial connection mechanism， and microstructural evolution. The applications of the AFSD technology in integral manufacturing of large components， high-performance coatings， and surface defect repair are listed. Finally， the prospects of the AFSD technology are discussed， pointing out that further research and breakthroughs are needed in areas such as coupling of process parameters with microstructural changes， in-situ deformation condition simulation， tool head design， and additive manufacturing of new materials.