Abstract This paper aims to review methods for computing orthogonal projection of points onto curves and surfaces, which are given in implicit or parametric form or as point clouds. Special emphasis is place on orthogonal projection onto conics along with reviews on orthogonal projection of points onto curves and surfaces in implicit and parametric form. Except for conics, computation methods are classified into two groups based on the core approaches: iterative and subdivision based. An extension of orthogonal projection of points to orthogonal projection of curves onto surfaces is briefly explored. Next, the discussion continues toward orthogonal projection of points onto point clouds, which spawns a different branch of algorithms in the context of orthogonal projection. The paper concludes with comments on guidance for an appropriate choice of methods for various applications.