Nanoparticles have immense industrial, biotechnological, and biomedical/pharmaceutical applications due to their pliability in structure, size, biocompatibility, high surface area, and versatile functionalization, which have led to their ubiquitous application in diverse areas Advancement of the science in the research field has revolutionized our lifestyle and health care from medicine to the agricultural field but there were also some negative impacts of this development apart from the benefits. Nanotechnology has been one of the ladders responsible for this revolution which has to some extent decreased the adverse effects. Among various types of nanoparticles, silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) have become favoured as nanostructuring, drug delivery, and optical imaging agents. Silica nanoparticles are immensely stable, less toxic. Mesoporous silica materials with pore sizes in the range between 2 and 50 nm have attracted widespread attention due to their precisely tuneable macroscopic form, chemical functionality, and mesoporous structure. Silica has been also applied for the remediation of the environment pollutants like to carry out enhanced oil recovery to reduce the liberation of brine, heavy metals and radioactive compounds into water, removal of metals, non-metals and radioactive elements,water purification. This article reviews the important applications of silica nanoparticles from the medicine, agricultural field to the environmental bioremediation. © 2019, Springer Nature B.V.