The work aims to investigate the characteristics and formation mechanism of orange peel-like defects on the surface of a hot-dip galvanized dual phase steel. A comparative analysis of the surface morphology and surface composition distribution of the galvanized, dezincified, cold rolled and hot rolled states in normal and defective zones was carried out with digital microscopy (DM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and glow discharge spectroscopy (GDS). The orange peel-like defect was characterized by an abnormal growth of the spangle to about 350 μm, which was about