•The fracture toughness and crack propagation velocity of sandstone decreased with the increase of water content.•The cumulative AE counts of wet specimens in the NSCB tests were much less than those of dry ones.•The DIC technique was used to measure and analyze the progress of fracture on specimen surface. This study investigated the effect of water content on quasi-static fracture behavior of sandstone. Notched semi-circular bending (NSCB) tests were conducted on a total number of 20 sandstone specimens with different water contents (0, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.5%) to determine their fracture toughness. During the NSCB tests, the cracking process and acoustic emission (AE) signals were recorded continuously with the aid of a charged couple discharge (CCD) camera and an AE system, and the crack propagation velocity was also measured accurately via a crack propagation gauge (CPG). Test results demonstrated that both the fracture toughness and crack propagation velocity observably decreased with the increase of water content, the variation trend of which could be described by exponential equations. The cumulative AE counts of wet specimens in the NSCB tests were much less than those of dry ones, which indicated that the sandstone specimens underwent more ductile failure and released less elastic energy due to water-softening effects.