A paper feeding unit of an image forming apparatus, which includes: a pickup roller; a first feed roller to feed the paper in a required direction; and a reverse roller to prevent a plurality of sheets of paper from being fed by rotating in an opposite direction to the first feed roller and to separate the paper into individual sheets, wherein the first feed roller has a contact section in contact with the reverse roller and a non-contact section where the first feed roller is apart from the reverse roller and the first feed roller feeds the paper by making a one-time rotation and stops rotating with the non-contact section facing the reverse roller. Since the feed roller and the reverse roller are put apart from each other in a waiting mode, the rollers can be protected from abrasion and paper can be fed smoothly.