Copper coated tungsten composite powders were prepared by an electroless plating method. The electroless plating of copper on tungsten powders with an irregular shape and a spherical shape was studied. The spherical shape of tungsten powder was made by a radio frequency plasma process. For the particles of irregular and angular shape, there is no obvious edge after plating and their surface becomes rough. But for spherical particles with surface defects, they become surface-round and the spherical degree has no obvious change because copper is deposited uniformly on the particle surface in the electroless plating process. Thus, the surface quality of tungsten powder is improved and the surface defect is eliminated. After annealing in hydrogen at 600 oC, the surface of copper coated tungsten becomes smooth, and the pores in the coated layer are decreased obviously. Finally, a compact layer of copper is coated on the surface of tungsten powder to form a W-Cu composite powder.