Objective  To observe the effect of paired corneal incisions in correcting astigmatism after phacoemulsification guided by a navigation system. Methods  In this cohort study，patients with >1.0 D preoperative corneal astigmatism were selected. Thirty-five patients （40 eyes） who were selected for 2.8 mm paired corneal incisions were the experimental group， and 27 patients （30 eyes） who were selected for 2.8 mm single corneal incision were the control group. The changes in astigmatism were compared 3 months after the operation. The induced surgical astigmatism was calculated by vector analysis. An independent samples t test and a paired samples t test were used for statistical analysis. Results  Corneal astigmatism before and 3 months after the operation in the control group was 1.84±0.40 D and 1.49±0.36 D， and was 1.89±0.74 D and 0.71±0.60 D in the experimental group. The differences were statistically significant （t=7.55， P<0.05； t=13.93， P<0.05）. The difference between the 2 groups 3 months after the operation was also statistically significant （t=-6.31， P＜0.05）. Surgically induced astigmatism in the control and experimental groups was 0.38±0.18 D and 1.55±0.84 D， respectively. The average corneal curvatures before and 3 months after the operation in the control group were 44.18±1.31 D and 44.14±1.31 D， and were 44.33±1.51 D and 44.29±1.52 D in the experimental group. The difference was not statistically significant （t=1.21， P>0.05； t=0.73， P>0.05）. Conclusion  Paired corneal incisions in phacoemulsification are a safe and effective method for correcting corneal astigmatism.