Start with dry PLA and the sample file supplied by Creality. A known file narrows the first test to assembly, loading and first-layer behavior.
Run Leveling from the printer menu. Clean the nozzle before probing because hardened plastic on its tip changes the measured gap. Clean and reseat the flexible plate as well.
Preheat for PLA, load filament and wait for an even strand from the nozzle. Remove the strand after the toolhead stops. Insert the storage card with the printer idle; Creality warns against removing it during a print.
Start the sample and stay for the first layer. If lines remain round and separate, adjust Z compensation slightly closer. If the nozzle scrapes or plastic forms heavy ridges, move it slightly farther away. Use small changes and watch the next few lines. The official manual describes roughly 0.1 mm as the target physical relationship, but the printed line is a better practical check than forcing paper under a hot moving nozzle.
Let the sheet cool after the print. Remove it from the magnetic bed and flex it gently. Do not attack a stuck PLA part with a metal scraper while the sheet is mounted.
Save the displayed Z compensation and take a photo of the successful first layer. If later results change dramatically, you will have a real baseline rather than a memory of what looked acceptable.
If the machine still needs assembling, the setup and assembly guide covers the steps that come before this one. For a closer look at reading the CR Touch mesh and adjusting Z compensation beyond a single print, see the bed leveling guide, and the general beginner checklist is worth keeping nearby for the next few prints.