Abstract In a spectral beam combining (SBC) system, crosstalk always happens because stray lights are inevitable due to fabrication errors of optical components and ‘smile’ effect of laser arrays. Two kinds of crosstalk, including the crosstalk generated between two adjacent emitters of the laser array (ad-crosstalk) and that generated between two non-adjacent emitters (non-ad-crosstalk), have been analyzed. The equivalent light of the crosstalk model has been proposed, and the propagation model of the SBC system with the crosstalk has been built up. On this basis, influences of above two kinds of the crosstalk on the combined beam have been numerically simulated and discussed in detail. The results show that the wavelength composition of the combined beam varies evidently owing to the existence of the crosstalk. With the increasing of the crosstalk intensity, the beam quality of the combined beam degrades, and the side lobes of intensity distribution of the combined beam become more and more obvious. Furthermore, the influence of the non-ad-crosstalk on the beam quality is more serious than that of the ad-crosstalk.