The dynamic characteristics and stability of axially moving viscoelastic rectangular thin plate are investigated. Based on the two dimensional viscoelastic differential constitutive relation, the differential equations of motion of the axially moving viscoelastic plate are established. Dimensionless complex frequencies of an axially moving viscoelastic plate with four edges simply supported, two opposite edges simply supported and other two edges clamped are calculated by the differential quadrature method. The effects of the aspect ratio, moving speed and dimensionless delay time of the material on the transverse vibration and stability of the axially moving viscoelastic plate are analyzed.