Thermal friction drilling is a novel nontraditional hole-making process. A rotating conical tool is applied to penetrate a hole and create a bushing in a single step without generating chips, providing a more solid connection for attachment than attempting to thread the original sheet. The amazing applications of thermal friction drilling in different industrial fields will lead to new era of joining process for different work materials, especially in the sheet metal applications. The aim of this work is to review the state of the art for researches performed on the friction drilling process as well as its applications considering its advantages and limitations. Thereby, to highlight the important and critical issues that should be tackled and investigated by researchers in the near future such as studying the optimal machining parameters of such process and evaluating their effects on the multiple performance characteristics.