Knutsford (/ˈnʌtsfərd/) is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East district, in Cheshire, England; it is located 14 miles (23 km) south-west of Manchester, 9 miles (14 km) north-west of Macclesfield and 12+1⁄2 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population of the parish at the 2021 census was 13,259.

Knutsford's main town centre streets, Princess Street (also known locally as Top Street) and King Street lower down (also known as Bottom Street), form the hub of the town. At one end of the narrow King Street is an entrance to Tatton Park. The Tatton estate was home to the Egerton family and has given its name to Tatton parliamentary constituency, which includes the neighbouring communities of Alderley Edge and Wilmslow.

Knutsford is near Cheshire's Golden Triangle and is on the Cheshire Plain, between the Peak District to the east and the Welsh mountains to the west.

Knutsford was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Cunetesford ("Canute's ford"). King Canute (Knútr in Old Norse) was the king of England (1016–1035) and later king of Denmark, Norway and parts of Sweden as well. Local tradition says that King Canute blessed a wedding that was taking place and forded the River Lily, which was said to be dangerous then, though other reports say it was the Birkin Brook at or near Booth Mill. The English Place-Name Society gives the name as being derived from the Old English for Knutr's ford or possibly hillock ford.

In 1292, Edward I granted Knutsford a market charter, allowing the town to hold a weekly market and annual fairs.

Knutsford was historically part of the ancient parish of Rostherne. A chapel of ease to serve Knutsford was built in the 14th century on a site to the east of the town near Booths Mere. The chapel was initially dedicated to St Helena and later to St John. In 1741, Knutsford was made a separate parish from Rostherne. St John the Baptist's Church was built between 1741 and 1744, on a site in the centre of the town to serve as the new parish church; the old chapel to the east of the town was demolished.

Knutsford gaol was built in 1817 and later extended in 1853. It was not just built to house those committed of crimes but also to house those who could not be employed. In 1915, due to the low population and there being an ongoing World War, the gaol was used as a military prison for the detention of soldiers found guilty of committing offences. From 1916, it was used to house conscientious objectors who broke the Military Service Act 1916. In April 1916, there was an Easter Rising in Ireland, where rebels hoped to form an independent Ireland free from British rule. At least 600 rebels involved in that rising were transported to Knutsford by train from Holyhead and imprisoned in Knutsford Gaol. During this period, many prisoners were not properly fed and resorted to eating grass and anything discarded by visitors. The gaol was demolished in 1934.

Knutsford was the place in which General George S. Patton, shortly before the Normandy invasion, delivered a speech perceived to be critical of the Soviets, and to have "slap(ped) the face of every one of the United Nations except Great Britain", which nearly ended his career.