Conversion of CO2 and H2O into value-added organic molecules via artificial photosynthesis is a promising solution to current energy and environment problems. In the reaction, it is generally believed that CO2 is converted into organic molecules by photogenerated electrons and protons that result from photo-oxidation of H2O. In this work, we investigate the possibility that H2O, without being oxidized, directly donates protons to CO2 and other intermediates adsorbed at the oxygen vacancy on the anatase TiO2(101) surface. We found that this can greatly lower the barriers (by about 0.3 eV) for the hydrogenation of CO2, CO, H2CO, and CH3O because less energy is required to displace these adsorbates to accept the proton (in H2O). The OH- group produced in these reactions can recombine with a surface-adsorbed proton to form a new H2O molecule, making H2O a shuttling center of the adsorbed protons, or it can take part in the oxygen evolution reaction with a lower barrier. The results suggest that H2O can play multiple roles in artificial photosynthesis and the reduction and oxidation parts of the reaction may have synergistic effects.