<p>With the depletion of fossil fuels, biomass as a renewable resource is considered as an alternative to fossil fuels. Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is a promising renewable resource, and the main components can be used to produce liquid fuels. Fractionating the main components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) of LCB is the most vital step in the biorefining process due to the complex structure of LCB. Organic solvents, as environmentally friendly, low-cost, and recyclable compounds, can effectively deconstruct LCB. Organic solvent-based pretreatments (OPs) have been widely used to promote the production of fermentable sugars and their conversion rates for green liquid fuels. Herein, we first compared and investigated the current status of the development of OPs of different kinds of organic solvents, including alcohols, organic acids, esters, amines, ketones, aldehydes, and cyclic ethers. The efficiency of fractionation on the three components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) of OPs and the effects on products of pyrolysis or hydrolysis were systematically summarized. The mechanisms of OPs of different kinds of organic solvents and strategies based on first principles to improve the performance of OPs were summarized. The conversion rates of fermentable sugars to ethanol through fermentation were also summarized. The current challenges and prospects of OPs were presented. This paper aims to assist in the selection and mechanism investigation of OPs for biomass utilization.</p> Graphical abstract <p>The process of organic solvent-based pretreatments of lignocellulosic biomass for producing liquid fuels</p> <p></p>