Potassium is a key nutrient required for plant growth and development, and its uptake and utilization is a coordinated and complex regulatory processes.The available potassium content in cultivated land is relatively low in our country, which often fails to meet the needs of crop growth. In addition, drought and salinization seriously affect the absorption and utilization of potassium in crops, which leading to widespread potassium deficiency in crops. Plants have developed various regulatory mechanisms to cope with low potassium, salt, drought and other stresses in order to survive in various adverse environments. This review systematically introduce the physiological and molecular mechanisms of potassium uptake, transport, and utilization in plant, which focus on exploring the regulatory mechanisms of abiotic stresses such as salt and drought on potassium ion uptake and transport genes in plants. The role and mechanism of potassium uptake and transport genes in improving plant drought and salt tolerance was also reviewed. Finally, prospects were made on how to use cultivation, molecular biology, and molecular breeding techniques to improve crop potassium nutrient uptake and utilization, in order to provide theoretical basis for improving crop potassium fertilizer utilization efficiency and stress tolerance.