The work aims to study the influence of MFC as additive on the properties of inkjet paper coating. Colloidal silica was used as the pigment and PVA as the binder. Five groups of coating were prepared by changing the MFC additive amount (0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8 and 1). Five kinds of inkjet coated paper were obtained through coating, drying and press polishing. Based on the analysis of the viscosity of coating, physical properties of paper, inkjet printing quality and dynamic permeability, the influence of MFC on inkjet paper coating was studied. MFC could reduce the roughness of inkjet paper coating by 47%, enhance the surface strength by 36.7% and improve the quality of inkjet printing and coating permeability. Meanwhile, it was found that the soaking time of surface coating had good correlation with inkjet printing performance. When the amount of MFC is about 0.5, the paper has the optimal inkjet printing performance.