<p>Membrane separation technology offers numerous advantages. However, it also faces several challenges, such as membrane fouling and damage caused by chlorine attack. Reverse osmosis (RO is currently the most widely applied) technology for water desalination. Significant advances have been achieved in the development of RO membranes using various raw materials, such as polyamide and polyimide. Nanoparticles and other nanomaterials have been extensively explored as membrane modifiers to enhance separation efficiency and mitigate fouling. Nanotechnology has created the best approach of NMs fabrication, which has a good effect on the addition of NMs into the RO membrane preparation. Therefore, continuous research on RO membrane is an open door. This review critically analyzes and evaluates the recent progress in nanomaterial-modified RO membranes for water desalination. The effects of nanomaterial incorporation on fouling resistance, chlorine resistance, membrane physicochemical properties, and overall desalination performance are systematically discussed. The analysis demonstrates that nanomaterial modification can significantly improve membrane durability and operational performance. Despite these advancements, challenges related to membrane stability, scalability, and long-term performance remain, indicating that continued research on nanomaterial-based RO membranes is necessary.</p>