Silicon carbide (SiC) material is widely used in aerospace, engineering ceramics and semiconductor fields for its excellent physical and chemical properties. At present, there are many methods for the synthesis of SiC powder, among which the carbothermal reduction is the main method for industrial production of SiC powder but during the production process, the particle size and impurity content of SiC powder would affect properties of the final product. Therefore, how to refine and purify SiC powder is becoming the issue that often needs to be explored for preparing the high-performance SiC materials. Firstly, the category, principle and characteristics of SiC powder synthesis technology are introduced; then the research progress of SiC powder refinement technology in recent years is elaborated, and the purification technology for amorphous carbon and metals & metal oxides in the SiC powder are specifically emphasized; finally, the problems that need to be solved for preparing SiC powder at present is analyzed along with an outlook for its development prospect.