Purpose This paper aims to provide a comprehensive literature review on modelling electro-osmotic flow in porous media. Design/methodology/approach Modelling electro-osmosis in fluid systems without solid particles has been first introduced. Then, after a brief description of the existing approaches for porous media modelling, electro-osmotic flow in porous media has been considered by analysing the main contributions to the development of this topic. Findings The analysis of literature has highlighted the absence of a universal model to analyse electro-osmosis in porous media, whereas many different methods and assumptions are used. Originality/value For the first time, the existing approaches for modelling electro-osmotic flow in porous have been collected and analysed to provide detailed indications for future works concerning this topic.