Aqueous-phase hydrogenation of glucose to lower diols (ethylene glycol (EG), 1, 2-propylene glycol (PG), and butanediol (BDO)) over bi-functional Ru-W supported catalysts was investigated in a continuous-flow fixed-bed reactor. A variety of catalysts based on different supports including mesoporous SiO2, activated carbon (AC), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and bulk WO3 were compared and examined by N-2 physisorption, H-2 chemisorption, XRD, TEM, ICP, H-2-TPR, in-situ/ex-situ XPS, NH3-TPD, and Raman spectra. The results indicate that the lower diols yield is highly dependent on the synergistic effect of Ru metal sites and WOx acid sites, in other words, strongly depending on the competitive reactions of the glucose. Abundant W4+ and Ru degrees sites on Ru-W/SiO2 catalysts with large specific surface area effectively catalyze the selective cleavage of the C-C bonds in glucose and subsequent hydrogenation to lower diols, resulting in 100% glucose conversion as well as highest diols selectivity (87.3%) over 50 h reaction at 478 K and 4 MPa H-2. Meanwhile, the Ru/WO3 with much lower surface area forms more W5+ species, which is advantageous to producing more EG products (55.9%) at the same reaction conditions.