Guar is extensively used during shale gas exploitation and is a major component in the flowback water. The viscosity of guar has adverse effects for the treatment of flowback water. This study investigated the degradation of guar at different salinities with an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor. The effects of salinity on guar degradation, granular characteristics and microbial community were also studied. Results showed that more than 79% of guar was removed at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 10 h, even at a concentration of 10000 mg L of NaCl. Increasing salinity decreased granular size and hydrophobicity, but improved the secretion of EPS (especially for protein). Low salt condition 2500 mg L presented faster degradation rate of guar. Salinity resulted in insignificant difference on bacterial community, but decreased the abundance of methanogens. Bacteroides, Prolixibacter and Pelolinea are essential genera in guar degradation. The results demonstrated the potential of UASB in the treatment of flowback water.