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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of laser peening (LP) on mechanical and wear properties of 304 stainless steel sheet. Design/methodology/approach: Three-dimensional morphology, micro-hardness and micro-structure of shocked samples were tested. The wear amount, wear track morphology and wear mechanism were also characterized under dry sliding wear using Al2O3 ceramics ball. Findings: The LP treatment generates deformation twins that contribute to the grain refinement and hardness increase. The wear test displays that the wear mechanism of samples is mainly abrasive wear and oxidation wear at 10 N load. While at 30 N, the delamination and adhesion areas of treated sample are reduced visibly compared to untreated ones. Originality/value: This study specifically investigates the mechanical and wear properties of 304 stainless steel after the direct action of LP on its surface, which shows an effective improvement on the wear resistance. For example, the wear loss of processed sample is reduced by 19% at 30 N, the friction coefficient decreases from 0.4714 to 0.4308 and the groove depth is reduced from 78.1 to 74.4 µm under same condition. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-01-2024-0007/ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]