An image forming apparatus includes a recording head, a wiping unit and a moving mechanism. The recording head has a nozzle area where a plurality of ink ejection ports is opened downward. The wiping unit is moved in a first direction with coming into contact with the nozzle area and wipes the ink ejection ports. The moving mechanism performs a wiping operation and a returning operation. The moving mechanism includes a first drive source and a guide part. The first drive source moves the wiping unit in the first direction and in the second direction. The guide part guides the wiping unit in the first direction in the wiping operation, and guides the wiping unit in the first direction so as to separate the wiping unit from the nozzle area downward and then guides the wiping unit in the second direction in the returning operation.