Thesis is a final project that must be undertaken to obtain a master’s degree. Paraphrasing is essential in thesis writing, yet postgraduate students still encounter difficulties in mastering this skill. This qualitative research explores the challenges and strategies used by English as a Foreign Language (EFL) postgraduate students to address paraphrasing challenges in thesis writing. Furthermore, phenomenological research was used as a research design in this study. The subjects of this research were eight participants from the 2020-2022 batch in the graduate program in English Language Education at Syiah Kuala University. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. The findings identified several aspects of challenges in paraphrasing, including vocabulary skills, reading comprehension skills, difficult topics, concentration, achieving coherence, and maintaining the original meaning which includes paraphrasing words that are too specific. The strategies used by postgraduate students to overcome these paraphrasing challenges include substitution with synonyms or elaboration, deletion, reordering, copy verbatim, utilize online tools or resources, reread and translate the text, find in related journal, capture the main idea, ask for feedback, and compare with the original. The findings suggest that EFL students require support in developing their vocabulary knowledge, critical thinking skills, and language-related skills to improve their paraphrasing abilities in thesis writing.