Ion-exchange resins are one of the promising templates for obtaining metal oxide macrospheres, which are in demand in fixed-bed reactors, when solving sanitary problems with radioactive dust, etc. Hollow oxide spheres prepared with ion-exchange resins have high mechanical strength, specific high surface area, high porous structure, high biological and photoactivity, which makes them as promising materials. In the present review, the main characteristics (structure, type of matrix and functional group) of ion exchange resins that allow them to be used as templates and to prepare metal oxide materials with spherical shape are surveyed and described. In addition, the thermal destruction of ion exchangers previously saturated with metal ions or oxyanions have been tackled with special focus on the condition of the heat treatment that leads to keep the initial form of the template by oxide materials. Priority is given to research aimed at establishing the relationship between the characteristics of templates and the possibility of obtaining strong macrospheres with different functional properties. Recommendations are given for the selection of ion exchangers for the preparation of metal oxide spheres. In addition, some perspective applications and properties of metal oxide microspheres prepared by the template method are presented.