Cleaning agent plays an important role in industrial production and daily life. As a novel green surfactant, alkyl glycoside (APG) has the advantages of high surface activity, strong decontamination, low ecotoxicity and complete biodegradability. It is an ideal surfactant for cleaning agent. However, the poor water solubility and hard water resistance of long alkyl chain APG limit its extensive application. The hydroxyl groups on APG sugar ring can be connected with a variety of groups to form derivatives with better performance. The derivatives not only overcome the shortcomings of glycosides, but also increase more functions and have broad application prospects. This paper introduces the decontamination mechanism of cleaning agent and the progress of synthesis of APG; The classification, synthesis and important applications of APG derivatives in cleaning agents were reviewed in detail; The future development direction of APG and its derivatives in the field of cleaning is also prospected.