Inflammation plays an important role in the occurrence and development of disease; dysregulation of inflammatory progression often leads to disease such as tissue sclerosis, cancers, stroke, etc. Optical imaging technology, due to its higher sensitivity and resolution, can provide finer images for the observation of inflammation. Many optical probes have been developed as contrast agents for optical imaging techniques in different diseases. In this review, we summarize the recent advances of optical probe and imaging methods for imaging inflammation in different organs, such as brain, liver, lung, kidney, intestine, etc. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of optical probes used in the clinic for inflammation monitoring and prospect their future development in disease detection.