Pathogens such as bacteria and viruses are widely spread in septic tanks, sewage sludge, wastewater and other sources. Groundwater contamination with viruses has caused great concerns in various countries because viruses are much smaller in size than bacteria or protozoan cysts and not easy to be filtered out through the porous soil matrix. Many scientific studies have been conducted in the past decades and much information is available in the literature about virus transport in the subsurface and its mechanisms. The purpose of this study is to review the literature from China and foreign countries with a focus on factors that influence virus transport in the subsurface, which include (1) general hydrodynamic factors that may affect fate and transport of viruses, (2) factors influencing virus adsorption and their mechanisms, (3) factors influencing virus inactivation and their mech 2 anisms. Soil physical heterogeneity is one of the main factors that cause dissimilarities between microorganisms and conservative solute tracers in transport behavior. Factors such as soil type, virus type, pH, ionic strength and the multivalent cations, organic matter, temperature, soil moisture content, particulate matter and soil, and microbial activities have been found to influence virus adsorption and inactivation in the subsurface. Each influencing factor is described and explained in detail. As for selection of indicator viruses, bacteriophages such as MS2, PRD1, and ΦX174 have been used extensively to study virus transport in columns and fields various in conditions and are considered to meet the requirements as indicator viruses. Based on the review, recommendations are made for future research activities.