Determination of soil properties and their behavior is an integral part of the analysis and design of geotechnical structures. The behavior of fine-grained soils in a porous media environment is influenced by the physical and chemical factors due to their mineralogical composition. The engineering behavior of clay minerals depends on the clay mineral composition and pore medium chemistry. Different clay minerals have different water-holding capacities and the drying process used during sample preparation may take out some or all of the water attached, potentially altering their structural pattern. The two major methods of drying adopted are air and oven drying. Even though the Indian Standard codes specify different ways of drying for different tests, there exist some ambiguities. Over the years, several studies have been conducted to study the influence on the index and engineering properties of fine-grained soil due to drying process. A comprehensive review of such research works is presented in this paper. For better understanding soil of different nature, namely black cotton and kaolinite soil is chosen for present study. Detailed experimental study was conducted to understand the outcome of drying on both index and engineering properties of both soil samples. Specific gravity, Atterberg limit tests, and sieve analysis are conducted to analyze the index property whereas compaction test, unconfined compression strength test, 1-D consolidation test, and permeability test are conducted to determine the engineering property of soil. The study shows that the drying of soil causes the aggregation of soil particles which results in a change in the properties of soil samples. There is an increase in silt fraction and reduction in clay fraction due to aggregation. Oven drying of soil showed reduction in liquid limit of soil and increase in maximum dry density and decrease in optimum water content.