Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is the contributor to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions with the highest warming global potential. It is widely recognised that traffic and animal-induced compaction can lead to an increased potential for N₂O emissions by decreasing soil oxygen supply. The extent to which the spatial and temporal variability of N₂O emissions can be explained by soil compaction is unclear. This review aims to comprehensively discuss soil compaction effects on N₂O emissions, and to understand how compaction may promote N₂O emission hotspots and hot moments. An impact factor of N₂O emissions due to compaction was calculated for each selected study; compaction effects were evaluated separately for croplands, grasslands and forest lands. Topsoil compaction was found to increase N₂O emissions by 1.3 to 42 times across sites and land uses. Large impact factors were especially reported for cropland and grassland soils when topsoil compaction—induced by field traffic and/or grazing—is combined with nitrogen input from fertiliser or urine. Little is known about the contribution of subsoil compaction to N₂O emissions. Water-filled pore space is the most common water metric used to explain N₂O emission variability, but gas diffusivity is a parameter with higher prediction potential. Microbial community composition may be less critical than the soil environment for N₂O emissions, and there is a need for comprehensive studies on association between environmental drivers and soil compaction. Lack of knowledge about the interacting factors causing N₂O accumulation in compacted soils, at different degrees of compactness and across different spatial scales, limits the identification of high-risk areas and development of efficient mitigation strategies. Soil compaction mitigation strategies that aim to loosen the soil and recover pore system functionality, in combination with other agricultural management practices to regulate N₂O emission, should be evaluated for their effectiveness across different agro-climatic conditions and scales.