The current status of the spatially and time-resolved free-carrier absorption (FCA) method is provided. The FCA technique allows monitoring carrier dynamics in a time scale from nanoseconds to miliseconds by employing either collinear or orthogonal geometry between pump and probe beams. A high spatial resolution is achieved allowing in-depth carrier profiles to be extracted. The method is particularly suited for investigation of injection-dependent optical and recombination phenomena: band gap optical absorption, Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) lifetime, Auger recombination coefficient, and the injection-dependent surface (interface) recombination velocity. We summarize important aspects of the technique demonstrating numerous measurements that have been implemented in studies of bulk Si, epilaxial 4H-SiC and porous silicon.