Abstract: Functional recovery from central nervous system (CNS) trauma depends not only on axon regeneration or compensatory sprouting of uninjured fibers but also on the ability of newly grown axons to establish functional synapses with appropriate targets. Although several studies have successfully promoted long-distance axonal regeneration in distinct CNS injury models, none of them have resulted in a viable therapeutic approach for patient recovery. A possible reason may be the lack of new synaptogenesis for reestablishing the circuitry lost after injury. Herein, we discuss how our understanding of the mechanisms that instruct synapse formation in the injured nervous system may contribute to the design of new strategies to promote functional restoration in traumatic CNS disorders.