The lasted research progresses related to types, properties, and influential factors of membrane fouling occurring in industrial wastewater desalination by electrodialysis are summarized. Inorganic fouling mainly results from the scaling of Ca2+, Mg2+ or other multivalent ions on the surface or inside of ion exchange membrane, in which the polarization or solution supersaturated precipitation leads to the membrane fouling. Organic fouling results from the deposition of proteins, humate, surfactant or other macromolecular organic matters on the surface or in inside of membrane. The main cause of anion membrane fouling by organic matters is related to the electrostatic interaction between negatively charged organic matters and anion exchange membrane with positively charged groups and the affinity interactions between the membrane matrix and aromatic compounds, and the membrane fouling is also related to the molecular size and network structure of organic compounds. The formation mechanisms and properties of membrane fouling are closely related to the applied electric current, coexisting components, temperature, pH value and running time, etc. The membrane fouling can result in the decrease of conductivity, ion exchange capacity, water content and limiting current density. Moreover, the effect of organic fouling on the electrodialysis performance is more obvious than that of inorganic fouling. The membrane fouling caused by the formation of organic compound gel layer can be quantitatively expressed by membrane fouling index for electrodialysis.