Manuscripts of the Lancelot-Grail Cycle were widely available throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. They were produced in large numbers from the first half of the thirteenth century, when the individual texts were composed and the Cycle brought into being, until the first years of the sixteenth century, by which time they were being superseded by the succession of printed editions that had begun with the Lancelot of 1488. As one would expect, most of the manuscripts were written in northern France, but significant numbers were made on the fringes of French-speaking territory, in areas such as England, southern France and Italy, where part of the population had French as their native language and part did not. The manuscripts circulated freely within France itself (north and south) and frequently passed to neighbouring areas, including those that were not French-speaking. The movement of manuscripts in the opposite direction, from surrounding regions to northern France, was doubtless much less common, and there is virtually no evidence for it until the very end of the medieval period.

The manuscripts themselves were of various types, some relatively small, much the same size as modern books, others extremely large and in several volumes. Some were written in haste, others with great care. Many of the survivors are richly decorated with miniatures and other artwork, whilst others are entirely plain. The high proportion of extant manuscripts with miniatures is not likely to be an accurate reflection of the original state of affairs. Their status as luxury items, as well as any interest aroused by the paintings themselves, will have tended to preserve the illustrated books in greater numbers, whereas the copies containing nothing but text (in a language that was becoming increasingly difficult to understand) could be discarded with few qualms, or replaced by the more convenient printed editions.

There are approximately 220 surviving manuscripts and larger fragments of the various texts that make up the Lancelot-Grail Cycle. The majority are in France and have probably been there ever since they were written, but 42 (including 3 fragments) are now in England or Wales, 2 now in France were probably in England during the Middle Ages, and a further 25 were in England during the nineteenth century before returning to the Continent or moving on to the United States or Japan. Thus, nearly a third of the survivors have been in England or Wales at some time.