Brittle materials have been applied more and more popularly because of their special properties, relativing to machining technique of metal materials, there is little study on processing for nonmetal brittle materials, and effective machining tools lack. With the development of laser technology, laser is becoming a potential processing tool for brittle materials. The principle of processing, characteristics and research status on brittle materials with laser separation, laser bending and laser peening are reviewed. Affecting factors of processing quality in laser separation and bending, such as laser energy, scanning velocity and beam mode, are discussed, the theory of dislocation is used to explain the performance improved in brittle materials after laser peening. Finally, some problems of laser application in nonmetal brittle materials processing are pointed out and future developments are forecasted.