Colorectal cancer is a common and malignant tumor in the digestive tract. Invasion and metastasis of cancer cells are key factors leading to the high mortality rate and postoperative recurrence of colorectal cancer. Chemotherapy is the main treatment method for preventing recurrence of this disease. However， there are many toxic side effects in clinical application， which seriously hinder the treatment process. Therefore， it is imperative to search for efficient and low-toxicity drugs. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has a long history of treating colorectal cancer and offers advantages such as safety， effectiveness， multiple targets， multiple pathways and minimal toxic side effects， which have made it increasingly popular worldwide. According to TCM， the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer is rooted in both deficiency and excess. TCM formulas mainly focus on tonifying the body to address the invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer， such as Jianpi compound， Jianpi Xiaoai decoction， and Bushen Jiedu Sanjie decoction. TCM monomers， such as emodin， berberine， and tanshinone， mainly focus on clearing heat and removing toxin， circulating blood and transforming stasis， and resolving swelling and dispersing nodules. Signaling pathways play a crucial role for analyzing invasion and metastasis， and research has shown that pathways such as Wnt/β-catenin， phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/protein kinase （PI3K/Akt）， Janus kinase 2/signal transduction and transcription activating factor 3 （JAK2/STAT3）， nuclear factors-κB （NF-κB）， vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） play important roles in the invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer. The invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer can be inhibited via regulating the key proteins and related factors in these pathways. In this review， we searched various literature databases， such as PubMed， China National Knowledge Infrastructure （CNKI）， and VIP， using keywords such as "colorectal cancer"， "signaling pathway"， "invasion and metastasis"， and "traditional Chinese medicine"， to summarize and analyze the relevant pathways of TCM compounds and monomers against invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer published in the past five years. The review aims to provide new insights and references for in-depth research on the therapy for invasion and metastasis of colorectal cancer and new drug development.