Novel coronavirus pneumonia is a disease caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus (2019 novel coronavirus, 2019-nCoV). Patients may be accompanied by severe hyposmia, and even some of them have anosmia as the first symptom. 2019-nCoV recognizes and invades cells through the spike protein (S protein) and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on the body's cell surface, and eventually causes olfactory dysfunction. ACE2-expressing non-neuronal cells in the human olfactory epithelium may be the direct target of 2019-nCoV infection, and the virus invading cells inhibits odor perception in adjacent olfactory sensory neurons. In this paper, by summarizing the clinical characteristics and related mechanisms of olfactory disorder associated with novel coronavirus pneumonia, the correlation between 2019-nCoV infection and olfactory disorder is expounded, and the possible causes of viral infection affecting olfactory function and olfactory self-healing are analyzed