There have been many, sometimes conflicting, reports over the years as to how the annealing of cold-worked metals may be affected in the presence of applied fields. The annealing phenomena considered here are recovery, recrystallisation and grain growth. Practical significance relates to the kinetics of these processes and the microstructures and textures that result after these heat treatments. The externally applied ‘fields’ considered here are magnetic fields, electric fields, electric currents and mechanical (elastic) loading. The literature considered relates specifically to metals, both ferrous and non-ferrous. Attempts are made to identify consistent behaviours. In some cases, the variability of observations does not permit this. However, reasonably firm conclusions are possible in some circumstances.