Nowadays, advanced machining techniques are widely used for solving various issues in manufacturing operations that include machining high strength materials, production of complex shaped profiles, better surface features, capable of high levels of precision, miniaturization, reduction of waste and secondary operations and lower production time. Among the various advanced machining techniques, abrasive water jet (AWJ) machining has received more attention from researchers and practicing engineers in manufacturing industries due to its capability of extensive operations and excellent quality of the cutting edge obtained during this process much superior to others, is reported by previous researchers. AWJ process is classified into abrasive water injection jet and abrasive slurry jet on the basis of the different ways of mixing between abrasive and water. This study explores the researches made on Injection type AWJ machining process as it is widely accepted by researchers and Industries for solving various issues. Review articles on AWJ have been collected from the year of 1960–2019. Hence, this study provides a detailed report on AWJ machining process (majority of discussion on metals and their compounds) through demonstration of various studies on subjects that include performance and surface characteristics, hybrid processes, versatile operations, micro machining and medical applications. A literature survey of recent trends and their applications of AWJ process has also been documented. Optimization studies have been discussed with various techniques used in the AWJ machining process. This has been referred to in this paper. In addition, future opportunties in AWJ have been discussed including a demand for requirements in various fields. The entire collection of results are of help in finding the niche applications for manufacturing operations in future. The outcome of this paper would also support present and future researchers in the identification of the significant process parameters, work materials and advanced techniques for getting better results in AWJ machining process.