Objective To explore the improvement effect of fractional laser combined with intense pulsed light therapy on scar and quality of life in acne patients. Methods A total of 68 acne patients admitted to our hospital from January 2023 to June 2024 were selected as the research subjects. According to different treatment methods, they were divided into the control group and the observation group, with 34 patients in each group. The control group was treated with fractional laser, and the observation group was treated with fractional laser combined with intense pulsed light. The clinical efficacy, scar severity (ECCA score), acne condition, skin condition improvement, quality of life (CADI score) and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results The total effective rate of treatment in the observation group (94.12%) was higher than that in the control group (76.47%) (P <0.05). After treatment, the scores of ECCA and CADI in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, the comedone-papule-nodule count was less than that in the control group, and the measurements under polarized light, mixed light and mixed ultraviolet light were lower than those in the control group (P <0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P >0.05). Conclusion Fractional laser combined with intense pulsed light therapy has a good effect in the treatment of acne. It can not only effectively relieve skin lesions such as comedones, papules and nodules in active acne, promote inflammatory regression, but also has a good repair effect on post-acne scars, thereby reducing the influence of acne on patients' quality of life, with high safety.