The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Governors in India have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at the central level. They exist in the state appointed by the president of India for a term of five years and they are not local to the state that they are appointed to govern. The factors based on which the president evaluates the candidates is not mentioned in the constitution. The governor acts as the nominal head whereas the real power lies with the chief minister of the state and their council of ministers.

The current incumbent is R. N. Ravi, who has served since 18 September 2021.

The governor enjoys many different types of powers:

• Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals,
• Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature, that is Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad, and
• Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor.

• Surjit Singh Barnala is the only appointed Governor to have served two terms in office (24 May 1990–15 February 1991 and 3 November 2004–31 August 2011).
• The longest term in office was that of Surjit Singh Barnala who served as the Governor for a period of almost six and a half years (3 November 2004–31 August 2011).
• The shortest term in office was that of M. M. Ismail who served as the acting Governor for a period of nine days (27 October 1980–4 November 1980).
• The longest term in office as additional in-charge was that of C. Vidyasagar Rao for a period of 1 year 1 month and 4 days (2 September 2016– 6 October 2017).

• Governors of India
• History of Tamil Nadu
• List of chief ministers of Tamil Nadu
• List of colonial governors and presidents of Madras Presidency