Despite access to diagnostic tests and effective therapies, asthma often remains misdiagnosed and/or poorly controlled or uncontrolled. In this review, we address the key issues of asthma diagnosis and management, recent evidence for levels of asthma control, the consequences of poor control and, in line with that, explore the potential reasons for poor asthma control and acute exacerbations. Based on recent evidence and current guidelines, we also aim to provide practical answers to the key questions of how to improve asthma management, with the best possible prevention of exacerbations, addressing the basics—adherence, inhaler misuse, obesity and smoking—and how to facilitate a new era of asthma care in the twenty-first century. We hope this review will be useful to busy primary care clinicians in their future interactions with their patients with both suspected and proven asthma.