Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are one of the main sources of air pollution, which are of wide concern because of their toxicity and serious threat to the environment and human health. Catalytic oxidation has been proven to be a promising and effective technology for VOCs abatement in the presence of heat or light. As environmentally friendly and low-cost materials, manganese-based oxides are the most competitive and promising candidates for the catalytic degradation of VOCs in thermocatalysis or photo/thermocatalysis. This article summarizes the research and development on various manganese-based oxide catalysts, with emphasis on their thermocatalytic and photo/thermocatalytic purification of VOCs in recent years in detail. Single manganese oxides, manganese-based oxide composites, as well as improving strategies such as morphology regulation, heterojunction engineering, and surface decoration by metal doping or universal acid treatment are reviewed. Besides, manganese-based monoliths for practical VOCs abatementare also discussed. Meanwhile, relevant catalytic mechanisms are also summarized. Finally, the existing problems and prospect of manganese-based oxide catalysts for catalyzing combustion of VOCs are proposed.