Methane is the second greenhouse gas contributing greatly to global warming, about 80 times of CO₂. Considering background of global warming and atmospheric methane growth, to catalyze total oxidation of atmospheric methane is of great importance to mitigate greenhouse effects and slow this global warming. However, catalytic oxidation of methane has always been a big challenge due to its high structural stability. In this article, research progress in total oxidation of methane under thermal-, photo- and photothermal-catalysis was reviewed. High temperature in thermal catalysis increases the energy loss and accelerates the deactivation of catalysts speedingly. Therefore, development of catalysts that oxidize methane under moderate temperatures is the main research interests. Photocatalysis provides a way to eliminate methane at ambient conditions with the assistance of solar energy, but the reaction rates are lower than that in thermal catalysis. It is worth mentioning that photothermal catalysis, developed in recent years, can achieve efficiently catalytic total oxidation of methane under mild conditions, showing a high potential application prospect. This article reviews development of three modes of catalysis, analyzes their different reaction mechanisms, advantages and disadvantages under different reaction conditions. Finally, prospects and challenges of this catalytic total oxidation are pointed out, which is expected to provide references for future research on this field.