A cooling device, which is included in an image forming apparatus, includes a cooling device including an air blower, an airflow divider, an air flowing passage, and an air exhaust opening. The air blower blows air toward a cooling target device. The airflow divider divides the air exhausted from the air blower into at least two airflows such that an air flowing direction of the air is changed to a direction perpendicular to an air exhausting direction of the air. The at least two airflows pass through the air flowing passage. A wall of the air flowing passage is disposed facing the cooling target device. The air exhaust opening is disposed on the wall of the air flowing passage to cause the air to pass through toward the cooling target device disposed in a direction intersecting the air flowing direction in the air flowing passage.