Acute respiratory distress syndrome is one of the forms of respiratory failure that seriously threaten human life. It has the characteristics of very high morbidity, mortality and hospitalization costs. How to treat acute respiratory distress syndrome to improve the quality of life of patients is particularly important. Mechanical ventilation is an important treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome. This article will review the progress in mechanical ventilation therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome, including non-invasive mechanical ventilation and invasive mechanical ventilation (tidal volume, lung recruitment, positive end-expiratory pressure, prone position ventilation, and high-frequency oscillatory ventilation), aiming to provide basis and reference for future exploration of the treatment direction of acute respiratory distress syndrome.