This study reviews the extrinsic factors controlling the cold crack susceptibility of weld metal and shows the difference from those of HAZ cracking. It further reviews the recent progresses made in consumable design for improving the crack resistance in the high strength weld metal. Previously the controlling factors for weld metal cracking were regarded as weld metal strength, diffusible hydrogen and weld metal height. An overall review presented in this article showed that the cold crack resistance could be improved through the microstructural modification and that an increase in microhardness was not necessarily related to a decrease in the resistance to cold cracking. Therefore, it is most important to figure out the microstructural constituent that is susceptible to cold cracking and then to eliminate or replace this constituent. Such changes in alloy design can provide weld metal with a significant improvement in resistance to cold cracking allowing preheat to be eliminated even in the steels of 800Mpa strength level.