In this research, the lubrication characteristics of spool valves with various cross-sectional groove shapes were studied. The validity of using the Reynolds equation for the analysis of spool valves with various groove shapes was also investigated. The cross-sectional shapes for the grooves included a triangle, square, and U shape. The characteristics of the flow in the groove were investigated using streamlines. When the number of grooves was increased, the difference between the results obtained from the Reynolds equation and those obtained from the Navier-Stokes equation increased according to the groove shape. Thus, it was found that the Navier-Stokes equation should be used to investigate the lubrication characteristics of the spool valves in those cases. Moreover, in the case where the cross section of the groove was U-shaped, the groove prevented the small eddy current from occurring in the groove. Therefore, the lateral force and friction force of the spool valve with the U-shaped groove were lower than those of the spool valves with other groove shapes.