With the development of science and technology, the demand for high speed cutting tools in machining is further increased, and the shortages of traditional casting for high speed steels gradually appear. Due to the characteristics of high alloy elements contents in high speed steel, the traditional production process of high speed steel is mainly die-casting. Although the quality of high speed steel produced by die-casting is relatively good, but the production efficiency is very slow. Continuous casting can significantly increase the output of high speed steel and save energy, but the central shrinkage of high speed steel billet produced by continuous casting is larger, and the problem of cracking in the rolling process can not be solved, so high speed steel continuous casting can not be formally put into production. Carbide is a very important factor affecting the properties of high speed steel, the addition of alloy elements will affect the size, morphology and element composition of carbides in high speed steel, so as to improve the quality of high speed steel. According to the mode of action, different alloy elements can be divided into carbide forming elements and non-carbide forming elements. These two kinds of elements have different modification effects on carbides, and the action mechanisms are quite different. In this paper, the main carbides in high speed steel are discussed, alloy elements effects on carbides in high speed steel and their research status are summarized according to different elements kinds,and some suggestions for future research on carbide modification of high speed steel are put forward.