In recent years， with the increasing social aging， the incidence of Alzheimer's disease （AD）， a neurodegenerative disease， is increasing. Due to its complex pathogenesis， there have been no effective prevention and treatment methods at present. The main pathological feature of AD is the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated protein （Tau） and amyloid β-protein （Aβ） in cells to form a large number of senile plaques. Autophagy is a protective mechanism in body that maintains homeostasis by removing abnormal proteins. Studies have shown that regulating autophagy pathway can affect Tau and Aβ in cells and achieve the purpose of treating AD. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） is characterized by multiple pathways， components and targets， which has unique advantages in the treatment of AD with unknown pathogenesis. At present， the prevention and treatment of AD by TCM has achieved initial success. Researchers have found that many single TCMs and TCM compounds treat AD by affecting autophagy-related pathways and regulating the autophagy activity. Therefore， this paper summarized the relevant research in recent years， described the active components of single TCMs and TCM compounds by classification， and discussed the generation and removal of phosphorylated Tau proteins and Aβ in cells regulated by different categories of active components and compounds via influencing tautophagy-related pathways to delay the process of AD， which facilitated the prevention and treatment of AD by TCM via influencing autophagy as the breakthrough point.