Objective To investigate the feasibility of fiber laser texturing on the mold surface and the improvement of the friction properties. Methods Using single factor variation method, the influencing laws of the power, pulse width, frequency, and defocus amount on different textures were investigated, and the hardness of the textured topography was also measured. Meanwhile, the friction properties of stainless steel samples with different surface textures disposed by laser texturing as well as smooth samples were comparatively investigated. Results It showed that textures such as crater shape and sombrero shape texture topography could be obtained by certain laser parameters and supplementary parameters. The hardness of the textured points was significantly increased, and the maximum value was nearly four times the hardness of the matrix material. During the friction experiment, compared with smooth samples, the friction coefficients of samples with different surface textures were higher under the low speed and heavy load condition to simulate drawing mold. With the increase of the diameter and spacing, the friction coefficient decreased. Conclusion Laser texturing could make a change to surface topography and property, and could therefore be used to optimize the surface friction properties of molds.