Engineering rocks are easily affected by excavation unloading and are in uniaxial compres- sion or tension, forming a typical I-type tension crack. Anchor rods are often used for on-site support to ensure safety and reliability of the project. The study of propagation and pen- etration of type I tension cracks and quantitative evaluation of rock anchoring effects are of great significance for exploring mechanical properties of rock fracture and revealing the mechanism of rock failure. In this paper, combined with speckle light measurement, a rock fracture toughness test of different anchoring positions and pre-tightening forces is carried out, the deformation evolution law of the crack tip and the fracture mechanics characteris- tics of the anchored rock are obtained, and the anchoring strengthening mechanism of the rock is discussed based on the theory of the net stress intensity factor. The research shows that the rock fracture process is divided into four stages: elastic deformation, steady crack propagation, crack instability propagation and residual deformation. After anchoring, the time of crack instability growth can be prolonged by 172% and the final residual deformation can be increased by 148%. Compared with the unanchored rock, the fracture toughness of rock initiation and instability increased by 83% and 124% respectively, and increased with growth of the pre-tightening force, which shows that the bolt increases the critical value of rock initiation and instability to achieve the toughening effect. After the rock is anchored, the time required for the crack to propagate to the same length increases by 55%, and the lateral deformation area is reduced by 46%, indicating that the lateral closing force of the bolt inhibits crack propagation and delays the instability of the rock matrix.