diff --git a/mmseg/apis/train.py b/mmseg/apis/train.py
index 7e1096bce..5d5bb9c08 100644
--- a/mmseg/apis/train.py
+++ b/mmseg/apis/train.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from mmcv.utils import build_from_cfg
 
 from mmseg.core import DistEvalHook, EvalHook
 from mmseg.datasets import build_dataloader, build_dataset
-from mmseg.utils import get_root_logger
+from mmseg.utils import find_latest_checkpoint, get_root_logger
 
 
 def init_random_seed(seed=None, device='cuda'):
@@ -160,6 +160,10 @@ def train_segmentor(model,
             hook = build_from_cfg(hook_cfg, HOOKS)
             runner.register_hook(hook, priority=priority)
 
+    if cfg.resume_from is None and cfg.get('auto_resume'):
+        resume_from = find_latest_checkpoint(cfg.work_dir)
+        if resume_from is not None:
+            cfg.resume_from = resume_from
     if cfg.resume_from:
         runner.resume(cfg.resume_from)
     elif cfg.load_from:
diff --git a/mmseg/utils/__init__.py b/mmseg/utils/__init__.py
index 3f1558052..4b34f4c38 100644
--- a/mmseg/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/mmseg/utils/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
 from .collect_env import collect_env
 from .logger import get_root_logger
+from .misc import find_latest_checkpoint
 
-__all__ = ['get_root_logger', 'collect_env']
+__all__ = ['get_root_logger', 'collect_env', 'find_latest_checkpoint']
diff --git a/mmseg/utils/misc.py b/mmseg/utils/misc.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd1b6b163
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mmseg/utils/misc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
+import glob
+import os.path as osp
+import warnings
+
+
+def find_latest_checkpoint(path, suffix='pth'):
+    """This function is for finding the latest checkpoint.
+
+    It will be used when automatically resume, modified from
+    https://github.com/open-mmlab/mmdetection/blob/dev-v2.20.0/mmdet/utils/misc.py
+
+    Args:
+        path (str): The path to find checkpoints.
+        suffix (str): File extension for the checkpoint. Defaults to pth.
+
+    Returns:
+        latest_path(str | None): File path of the latest checkpoint.
+    """
+    if not osp.exists(path):
+        warnings.warn("The path of the checkpoints doesn't exist.")
+        return None
+    if osp.exists(osp.join(path, f'latest.{suffix}')):
+        return osp.join(path, f'latest.{suffix}')
+
+    checkpoints = glob.glob(osp.join(path, f'*.{suffix}'))
+    if len(checkpoints) == 0:
+        warnings.warn('The are no checkpoints in the path')
+        return None
+    latest = -1
+    latest_path = ''
+    for checkpoint in checkpoints:
+        if len(checkpoint) < len(latest_path):
+            continue
+        # `count` is iteration number, as checkpoints are saved as
+        # 'iter_xx.pth' or 'epoch_xx.pth' and xx is iteration number.
+        count = int(osp.basename(checkpoint).split('_')[-1].split('.')[0])
+        if count > latest:
+            latest = count
+            latest_path = checkpoint
+    return latest_path
diff --git a/tests/test_utils/test_misc.py b/tests/test_utils/test_misc.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7ce1fa614
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_utils/test_misc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+# Copyright (c) OpenMMLab. All rights reserved.
+import os.path as osp
+import tempfile
+
+from mmseg.utils import find_latest_checkpoint
+
+
+def test_find_latest_checkpoint():
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tempdir:
+        # no checkpoints in the path
+        path = tempdir
+        latest = find_latest_checkpoint(path)
+        assert latest is None
+
+        # The path doesn't exist
+        path = osp.join(tempdir, 'none')
+        latest = find_latest_checkpoint(path)
+        assert latest is None
+
+    # test when latest.pth exists
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tempdir:
+        with open(osp.join(tempdir, 'latest.pth'), 'w') as f:
+            f.write('latest')
+        path = tempdir
+        latest = find_latest_checkpoint(path)
+        assert latest == osp.join(tempdir, 'latest.pth')
+
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tempdir:
+        for iter in range(1600, 160001, 1600):
+            with open(osp.join(tempdir, f'iter_{iter}.pth'), 'w') as f:
+                f.write(f'iter_{iter}.pth')
+        latest = find_latest_checkpoint(tempdir)
+        assert latest == osp.join(tempdir, 'iter_160000.pth')
+
+    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tempdir:
+        for epoch in range(1, 21):
+            with open(osp.join(tempdir, f'epoch_{epoch}.pth'), 'w') as f:
+                f.write(f'epoch_{epoch}.pth')
+        latest = find_latest_checkpoint(tempdir)
+        assert latest == osp.join(tempdir, 'epoch_20.pth')
diff --git a/tools/train.py b/tools/train.py
index 2e0b6e91f..81c7d854e 100644
--- a/tools/train.py
+++ b/tools/train.py
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ def parse_args():
         default='none',
         help='job launcher')
     parser.add_argument('--local_rank', type=int, default=0)
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--auto-resume',
+        action='store_true',
+        help='resume from the latest checkpoint automatically.')
     args = parser.parse_args()
     if 'LOCAL_RANK' not in os.environ:
         os.environ['LOCAL_RANK'] = str(args.local_rank)
@@ -118,6 +122,7 @@ def main():
         cfg.gpu_ids = args.gpu_ids
     else:
         cfg.gpu_ids = range(1) if args.gpus is None else range(args.gpus)
+    cfg.auto_resume = args.auto_resume
 
     # init distributed env first, since logger depends on the dist info.
     if args.launcher == 'none':