The impact of subsurface cracks on the laser damage resistance of bare and anti-reflection (AR) coated fused silica are experimentally investigated using chemical leaching. Two kinds of substrates with the subsurface cracks number density of obviously different are obtained by retaining or removing the grinding cracks. To highlight the effect of the subsurface cracks, the photoactive impurities in the polishing layer, as a competing damage mechanism, are minimized by chemical leaching. Then the HfO2/SiO2 anti-reflection coatings are deposited by electron beam evaporation. 355 nm laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) test results and damage morphology analysis verifie the negative effect of subsurface cracks on the LIDT of AR coated surfaces. According to the heating morphology of polished fused silica surface, a coupling model between the subsurface defects of substrate and the laser damage of coatings is proposed.