To provide a polishing method, a polishing apparatus, and a polishing cloth effectively and uniformly polishing the whole face of a workpiece, and stably collecting the workpiece after polishing.

The polishing apparatus includes a polishing head having an opening for ejecting a fluid from the rear side of the workpiece toward the polishing cloth, wherein, while the front side of the workpiece is brought into slide-contact with the polishing cloth attached to the upper part of a surface plate, the workpiece is pressed against the polishing cloth and polished by ejecting the fluid with its pressure controlled through the opening. The polishing apparatus further includes a rocking mechanism for rocking the workpiece relative to the polishing cloth while the rocking width of the polishing head on which the workpiece is held is controlled. The polishing cloth includes grooves only in a part not in slide-contact with the workpiece during polishing. After the workpiece is polished, the workpiece held by the polishing head is moved by the rocking mechanism to the position of the groove provided to the polishing cloth, and the workpiece can be collected by performing vacuum suction through the opening.