• Prepartion of graphene-like 2D nanosheets are summarized in detail. • Surface functionalization of graphene-like 2D nanosheets are presented. • The anticorrosion performance, anticorrosive mechanism, and optimization measures of pure 2D nanosheets coatings and their composite coatings are reviewed. • Future development directions and challenges for graphene-like 2D nanosheets used for metal protection are proposed and discussed in detail. In recent years, graphene has been widely employed in the field of metal corrosion protection owing to its outstanding impermeability and chemical stability, with examples of such metal protection including pure graphene coatings and graphene-based composite coatings. But the conductive graphene could promote the electrochemical reaction at the interface and accelerate the corrosion of metal substrates. More emerging graphene-like 2D nanosheets are attracting research attention for the application of metal anticorrosion, because of their barrier properties and poor conductivity, mainly including boron nitride (BN), molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ), zirconium phosphate (ZrP), and titanium carbide (MXene). In this review, the application of these graphene-like 2D nanosheets to metal protection is comprehensively reviewed. First, the general preparation methods of 2D nanosheets are briefly introduced. Second, surface functionalization of 2D nanosheets, including covalent and non-covalent modification, is described in detail. Third, the anticorrosion performance and optimization measures of pure 2D nanosheets coatings are summarized. Next, the protection performance, anticorrosive mechanism, and optimizations of 2D nanosheets composite coatings are presented. Finally, the future development of 2D nanosheets-based anticorrosive coatings has been prospected, and the challenges in the industrial application are discussed.