Since its discovery, graphene, an atomic thick layer of sp2 hybridized atoms of carbon in a hexagonal structure has drawn interest in this new world of modern, flexible and bendable technology. Due to its amazing characteristics and countless applications, graphene is an extensively studied material. Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are important graphene derivatives with different levels of oxygen-containing groups responsible for various global applications. The modified Hummers, Staudenmaier, and Hofmann methods are mostly employed for synthesizing GO. On the other hand, thermal and chemical reduction methods are most commonly used to synthesize rGO from GO. The admirable electrical, mechanical, and optical properties of these materials have made them extremely demanding in the field of flexible devices. The ease of fabrication of these graphene derivatives has made their way to numerous applications. Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) vary primarily in the number of functional groups that contain oxygen in GO, whereas rGO keeps a reduced oxygen content. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has a heterogeneous structure made up of a graphene-like basal plane which is embellished with structural flaws and hosts the regions with oxidized chemical groups. In this review, we have discussed the approaches to obtain graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and a few of its prospective applications in energy and environmental fields.