Abstract: This paper overviewed the recent research progress in the toughening modification of polyimides at home and abroad and also summarized the toughening modification methods including the hyperbranching toughening, toughening with flexible groups, diamine or dianhydride and structural modification. Hyperbranched polymers can reduce the entanglement of molecular chains due to a large number of end groups and highly branched 3D structure, and their flexible groups can improve the flexibility of molecule chains. Both of the molecular features can enhance the toughness of polyimides. The toughness of polyimides can also be improved by the new-designed diamine and dianhydride. Moreover, the change in structure of the original molecular chains can reduce the conjugates between molecular linkages and enhances the toughness of polyimides accordingly. Finally, the further research direction and development trend were prospected. The synergistic toughening method was highly recommended for polyimides by a combination of hyperbranched polymer and flexible groups with hyperbranched polymer and diamine, dianhydride.