Photochromic materials have poor affinity with fibers and are difficult to dye, which limits the development of photochromic fabrics. To solve these problems, cellulose-based photochromic hydrogels (CPHs) were prepared by using cellulose and spiropyrane as matrix under the crosslinking of epichlorohydrin, and the photochromic regularity of the new photochromic hydrogels were investigated. SEM results showed that CPHs had a three-dimensional network porous structure. As a new photochromic material and fabric finishing agent, CPHs were finished by conventional dipping process to obtain photochromic cotton fabrics. The UV-Vis results showed that the photochromic fabric had fast photochromic response in UV and achieved fast coloring and fading within 2-3 min. More importantly, the photochromic fabric can hold on more than 10 reversible cycles of color change no matter before and after soap washing, which further proved that CPHs had excellent photochromic cycle ability and light fatigue resistance, and has a strong affinity with cotton fabric. This work provided new application ideas for the development of new photochromic materials, hydrogel fabric finishing agents and intelligent color-changing fabrics..