Carbon dots (CDs) have received much attention in the field of sensing as fluorescent nanomaterials. They possess simple preparation, excellent optical properties, low toxicity, and brilliant biocompatibility. Photoluminescence in CDs is caused by chemical features, such as graphitic conjugated cores, molecular fluorophores and surface defect states. The emission wavelength of fabricated CDs primarily accumulates single bands in the blue, green or red region. Meanwhile, the structure of CDs and the relationship between their structure and optical properties are still being debated. Apart from that, the existence of single emission bands reduces the efficiency of CDs for sensing multiple analytes in a single process. To overcome this issue, dual conjugated emitters have been designed using carbon dots, quantum dots and metal–organic frameworks. Their fabrication is time-consuming, requires purification and has unequal photostability. It is critical to design and produce nanoprobes with no labeling and intrinsic dual emission. Thus, this review demonstrates the fundamentals to enlighten the PL mechanism for the multi-emissive response in CDs through ultrafast time-resolved and DFT techniques. An attempt is made to provide an in-depth understanding of diversified paths, such as modulation in their interparticle distance, integration of rare-earth metals and metallic to elucidate the duality in their emission spectra. We have provided insights into implementing intrinsic dual emissive CDs in different ratiometric models. Current states, portable challenges, the significance of fabricating CDs with dual emission peaks and their applications are rationally discussed. The main focus of the review is to discuss various methods and parameters to induce different emissions in CDs with single or dual bands rather than the sensing mechanisms. The goal of this review is to describe the theoretical justification for the sensing response of CDs by varying different parameters, such as pH, precursor, etc.