Porous carbons are widely used as industrial adsorbents because of the hydrophobic nature of their surfaces, high surface area, large pore volumes, chemical inertness, good mechanical stability, and good thermal stability. There has been a growing interest in new applications of porous carbons because of their ability to interact with molecules not only at their surfaces but also in the bulk of the material. The present review is about the synthesis of porous carbon by using templates. Special emphasis is placed on the type of templating agent and organic materials that are used. The details of the methods employed for this purpose and the results are introduced. By changing the template and organic precursor, one can synthesize porous carbons with different properties. Future studies need to be conducted on their controlled synthesis.