As a kind of compressible non-Newtonian fluid, foams have been widely used in drilling, stimulation of wells, well workover, EOR and so on. Nanoparticles, as an emerging material to stabilize foam, can significantly improve the stability of foam. In this paper, the mechanisms of the nanoparticles in the foam stability was mainly discussed from three aspects, including the interaction between nanoparticles and interface, influencing factors of single hydrophobic particles in stabilizing foams, synergistic stabilization of foams by a mixture of hydrophilic nanoparticles and surfactant. In addition, the prospects and direction of nanoparticles for stabilizing foams were also discussed.