With the increasing demand for phosphorus (P) fertilizer and the shortage of P reserves in the world, soil phosphate solubilizing microorganisms (PSMs) play an important role in promoting the P cycle between plant and soil. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively understand their species and strategies for how PSMs promote plant P uptake. This review meta-analyzes the species of soil PSMs, constructs a phylogenetic tree, and synthetically illustrates the promoting strategies of soil PSMs for plant phosphorus absorption. Soil PSMs directly mobilize insoluble P mainly through solubilization and mineralization, but they can also indirectly mobilize P by interacting with plant roots. PSMs promote plant P uptake by carbon and P exchange with the help of plant root exudates and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). PSMs also can enhance plant nitrogen fixation with more P demand, leading to plant P limitation, hence PSMs indirectly mobilize soil P via regulating the plant phosphate transport system. Furthermore, they promote the growth of plant roots by secreting plant hormones and biological control agents, and then indirectly promoting plant P uptake. In addition, PSMs can reduce P loss through P fixation and promote plant P absorption by accelerating their P turnover. This review emphasizes the importance of PSMs for improving and developing the theoretical system of soil P cycle and plant P absorption.