Abstract: Welding has a relatively wide range of applications in industries such as aerospace, nuclear industry and pressure vessels. Various advanced welding technologies such as (linear/inertial) friction welding, diffusion joining, electron beam welding and high temperature brazing have been developed and adopted, especially in the aerospace field. Weld defects or geometric discontinuities can easily sprout cracks or act as initial cracks during the service of welded structures, making the welded joint the weak link of the entire structure. Welded joints are characterized by the inhomogeneity of both material and mechanical properties. These characteristics make the crack growth behavior of welded joints more complex. It is important to fully understand the crack growth behavior of the welded structure to ensure its integrity. This paper provides a review of the crack growth test criteria for welded joints, the crack growth laws for different regions of welded joints (fatigue, creep and creep fatigue, etc.), the fracture parameters associated with the crack growth behavior of welded joints and the numerical simulation methods for crack growth of welded joints. The results show that the research method of crack growth behavior of welded joints is similar to that of homogeneous materials, and most of the adopted crack growth test standards refer to homogeneous metallic materials. Due to the influence of material inhomogeneity and residual stress, the crack growth behavior of welded joints is more complex and less likely to obtain general laws. In addition, the fracture parameters proposed based on homogeneous materials can be used to correlate the crack growth behavior of welded joints. For the material constraint effect in welded joints, corresponding material constraint parameters have also been proposed. However, the study of these constraint parameters is limited to more accurately describing the crack tip stress field of welded joints, and the research on crack extension is still immature. In terms of numerical simulation, different crack expansion behaviors are often used in different numerical simulation methods. Extended finite elements, nodal release techniques and dynamic meshing techniques are commonly used for fatigue crack expansion behavior anlaysis of welded joints, and the combination of continuous damage mechanics and finite element methods are typically used for creep crack analysis. In the future, it is necessary to develop non-destructive testing technology to improve the detection of welding defects, consider incorporating the existing theory of constraint parameters into the quantitative characterization of the crack extension behavior of welded structures, and improve the analysis and prediction of the fracture behavior of welded joints by combining artificial intelligence methods and utilizing the now-accumulated experimental data of welded joint crack propagation.