The evaluation of residual dose is crucial for the accurate assessment of luminescence chronology. Aeolian sediments may also be affected by the residual dose when using the post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) dating of K-feldspar (KF), especially for young samples. At present, systematic investigation of residual dose of a certain dune type, with the same methods, and across different deserts is still lacking. Here, we investigated residual dose of KF in modern sand from barchans in four deserts (Qaidam, Badain Jaran, Tengger and Taklamakan) in northwestern China, using both single-aliquot (SA) and single-grain (SG) methods, and multi-elevated-temperature (MET) and two-step pIRIR protocols under high and low stimulation temperatures. (1) Low residual doses were demonstrated by both SA (0.08 +/- 0.08 Gy by MET-pIRIR(170) and 4.42 +/- 1.53 Gy by MET-pIRIR(250)) and SG (0.03 +/- 0.43 Gy by pIRIR(170) and 6.85 +/- 4.18 Gy by pIRIR(275)) method, which were contributed by a minor proportion of insufficiently bleached grains (0.75% of pIRIR(170) and 1.90% of pIRIR(275)). (2) The low residual doses across different deserts suggest sufficient bleaching is a characteristic of barchans owing to their transport processes and sand sources. (3) Both SA and SG methods are reliable for dating barchans, and the calibration of residual dose is unnecessary for most cases. To balance the influences from residual dose and anomalous fading, the low-temperature protocol is recommended for younger samples (<100 Gy), while the high-temperature protocol is suitable for older samples (>70 Gy). (4) The well bleaching of barchans revealed by SG dating demonstrates that variations in equivalent dose values in paleo dune sand should not result from insufficient bleaching. Alternatively, the influences from heterogeneous external dose rate, associated with differences in mineral composition and grain size as displayed by the sharp beddings, should be considered. These findings offer valuable insights into improving the accuracy of luminescence dating for barchans.