Laser reduction of graphene oxide is a promising technology for manufacturing advanced devices such as supercapacitors, sensors and transistors, owing to its distinctive advantages in selective and localized GO reduction, direct micro-nanoscale patterning, and no requirement for chemicals. However, the fundamental mechanism underlying the laser induced reduction is still not well understood. In this paper, we demonstrate that by adjusting the power and scanning speed of a 780 nm femtosecond laser, not only can one distinguish, but also effectively tune, two coexisting sub-processes during the laser reduction, namely the direct conversion from sp 3 to sp 2