In the past decade, the field of visible-light mediated photocatalysis has been particularly thriving by offering innovative synthetic tools for the construction of functionalized architectures from simple and readily available substrates. One strategy that has been of interest is energy transfer catalysis which a powerful way of activating a substrate or an intermediate by using the combination of light and a relevant photosensitizer. This review deals with recent advances in energy transfer catalysis applied to phenols which are ubiquitous in chemistry both as starting materials and as high-added value products. Processes involving energy transfer from the excited photosensitizer to ground state oxygen and to phenol-containing substrates will be described.