Abstract: As the most abundant renewable aromatic biopolymer in nature, lignin recently has received extensive attention in the fields of energy, environment, and medicine. In particular, the use of 3D printing technology to construct lignin-based composites with tunable and desired structures and functions is one of the important ways to pro-mote the high-value utilization of lignin, which can also avoid the negative effects during traditional material preparation that caused by the diverse chemical structure, high polydispersity in molecular weight, and rigid structure of lignin. This paper focuses on the direct ink writing of lignin-based composites, mainly with the achievements and recent progress critically reviewed. Firstly, the structural features of lignin and the technology of direct ink writing are briefly summarized. Subsequently, the structure-rheology behavior relationship during 3D printing of lignin-based composites is discussed. Finally, the functional applications of 3D printed lignin-based composites in engineering, energy, and environment, as well as the potential problems and challenges, are summarized. Further, the main points towards future directions on lignin composites based on direct in writing are also highlighted.