Because of decreasing crude-oil reserves, and increasing concerns regarding global climate change and higher energy demands, focus has recently turned to the exploration of new renewable alternatives to fossil feedstocks for the production of energy fuels and chemicals. Recently, biomass has attracted much attention and been rapidly developed because it is readily available, cheap, and carbon neutral. In particular, the catalytic production of polyols from biomass and its derived compounds has become the subject of global research. Polyols, which are important industrial raw materials, are widely used for the production of hydrogen, liquid fuels, and chemicals. Cellulose, the most abundant source of biomass in nature, can be catalytically converted to polyols. This review summarizes and comments on recent advances in cellulose upgrading for the production of polyols (sorbitol, isosorbide, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propylene glycol); it also outlines the challenges in this field, and our research work.