Chiral carbon dots can be widely used in various fields such as chiral recognition, chiral catalysis and biomedicine because of their unique optical properties, low toxicity and good biocompatibility. In addition, chiral carbon dots with circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) can be synthesized, thus broadening the prospects of chiral carbon dots applications. Since the research on chiral carbon dots is still in its infancy, this paper reviews the chiral origin, formation mechanism, chiral evolution, synthesis and emerging applications of chiral carbon dots, with a special focus on chiral carbon dots with CPL activity. It is hoped that it will provide some reference to solve the current problems faced by chiral carbon dots. Finally, the opportunities and challenges of the current research on chiral carbon dots are described, and their future development trends have also been prospected.