Background N-6-methyladenosine (m(6)A) modification, as the most abundant RNA modification, widely participates in the physiological process and is involved in multiple disease progression, especially cancer. YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 1 (YTHDF1) is a pivotal m(6)A "reader" protein, which has been reported in multiple cancers. However, the role and molecular mechanism of YTHDF1 in HCC are still not fully elucidated. Methods Based on various bioinformatics databases, q-RT PCR, western blot, and a tissue microarray containing 90 HCC samples, we examined the expression of YTHDF1 in HCC. Then, we applied the loss-of-function experiments to explore the role of YTHDF1 in HCC by in vitro and in vivo assays. Finally, we performed the gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) to predict the potential signaling pathway of YTHDF1 involved in HCC and further verified this prediction. Results YTHDF1 was overexpressed in HCC and associated with HCC grade. Depletion of YTHDF1 markedly impaired the proliferation, migration, invasion, and cell cycle process of HCC cells. Mechanistically, YTHDF1 promoted the growth of HCC cells via activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Moreover, we also demonstrated that the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) mediated the promoting effect of YTHDF1 on the migration and invasion of HCC cells. Conclusions YTHDF1 contributes to the progression of HCC by activating PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and inducing EMT.