Abstract: Abstract:   In recent years, microplastic pollution in the freshwater environments has attracted increasing attention. In November 2020, we carried out systematic investigation of water samples in the Chaohu Lake (Located in Anhui Province) to assess the pollution status of microplastics (MPs). Shapes, particle size range, colors and chemical compositions of MPs in the Chaohu Lake were quantitatively assessed and analyzed. Our study recorded the MPs’ mean abundance of (1.30 ± 0.68) n/L in water samples, with the averaged abundance in eastern area of the lake being slightly lower than the other regions. We identified five shapes of MPs (including fibers, fragments, particles, films and microbeads), with fibers accounting for the most common shapes (65.8%). The colors of MPs include transparent, black, white and colored, among which black and colored are dominant, accounting for 44.33% and 26.58%, respectively. Small size microplastics (particle size < 200 μm) dominated in the Lake Chaohu, accounting for 39.88%. Indicated by the Raman spectroscopy, our results found seven main chemical compositions of MPs, including polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). PP (57.52%) and PET (21.17%) accounted for the two main polymer types in the Chaohu Lake. Our study demonstrated diverse and multiple sources of MPs in the Chaohu Lake. These results can provide fundamental background of MPs pollution as well as prevention and controlling of MPs in the Chaohu lake.