An image forming apparatus and method are provided. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming unit to form an image on a recording medium, a communication unit to receive setup information related to an image forming operation from a mobile terminal, a storage unit to store data related to the image forming operation; and a controller to determine a user authority on the basis of identifier (ID) information of the mobile terminal and to store at least some parts from among the received setup information in the storage unit according to the determined user authority. The image forming apparatus receives setup information stored in the user's mobile terminal through a near field communication (NFC) scheme, such that the user can easily and quickly change setup information of the image forming apparatus.