In developing as well as developed countries infectious diseases are one of the major problems. They are caused by pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses or parasites. Traditional medicinal plants are widely used to treat the microbial infections due to their rich source of antimicrobial activity & less cost. The different plant parts such as seed, fruit, root, bark, stem, leaf and even the whole plant were extracted using different solvents like ethanol, methanol, chloroform, petroleum ether, water etc. These plant extracts were tested by different diffusion methods against gram positive, gram negative bacteria and fungi to determine their antimicrobial activity. Identification of traditional remedies for skin is an important activity for the search of novel antimicrobial treatments against skin. There is a need for new topical agents for use in treating superficial skin infections. Medicinal plants possess antimicrobial properties which could be efficiently used as antimicrobial agents for topical use. This review provides a data of medicinal plants with antimicrobial activity thereby offering further scope for investigation of medicinal plant extracts to develop as effective antimicrobial medicines.