Biomass is regarded as a potentially abundant source of renewable energy for the production of energy, chemicals, materials, etc, which is an excellent alternative to traditional energy sources. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural,also known as HMF, is a versatile and critical renewable platform compound, which has been dubbed as the " sleeping giant" due to its numerous potential applications that can be produced from biomass-derived carbohydrates. Currently, the raw materials for the preparation of HMF are mainly saccharides. In this paper, we delve into the mechanism of HMF synthesis and discuss the progress on the catalytic preparation of HMF frm different feedstock sources, such as researchhexoses , polysaccharides, and other biomasses. Previous studies can be found that most of the Lewis acid catalysts are used for the conversion of glucose to HMF, while for fructose more attention is paid to the design of non-homogeneous catalysts that improve the yield. Polysaccharides are eventually hydrolyzed into monosaccharides for conversion, emphasizing both polysaccharide hydrolysis and monosaccharide conversion, and the conversion of monosaccharides remains a key aspect. Finally, we provide an outlook on the future research direetion of HMF feedstocks and the design and development of catalysts, aiming to offer theoretical support for future in-depth research.