Quartz is one of the main minerals that make up the crust. Its physical properties are closely related to the deformation behavior and rheological properties of the crust. Therefore, the study of the microscopic deformation mechanism and rheological characteristics of quartz is of great significance. The indepth study of the microscopic deformation mechanism and rheological properties of quartz has enhanced our understanding of the important role of quartz in the deformation process of the earth’s crust. This paper starts with the quartz microstructure and summarizes the transformation of the quartz main slip system during the temperature raise. Due to the different deformation and temperature conditions, the microscopic deformation mechanism is quite different, and the rheological parameters changes. Therefore, the main deformation mechanism and its rheological parameters is described in detailed in this paper. Because strain localization is a research hotspot of crustal deformation, and the corresponding localization of quartz has certain indicating significance, this paper alsodiscussed the performance of quartz during strain localization. Considering the deformation of the earth’s crust, quartz does not often deform as a single mineral phase, so the deformation performance of mutiple phases minerals is also discussed. Finally, we also briefly introduce some current research methods for quartz microscopic deformation mechanism.