| To clarify the effects of long\|term saline water drip irrigation on the organic carbon components of cotton field soil and the carbon\|transforming functional microorganisms, a long\|term saline water irrigation experiment was initiated in 2009, setting two irrigation water salinities: freshwater (0.35 dS·m-1, FW) and saline water (8.04 dS·m-1, SW). Soil samples from the 0~20 cm layer were collected during the flowering period of cotton in 2023 to study the physicochemical properties, organic carbon components, and enzyme activities of the soil. Using metagenomic sequencing technology, the characteristics of carbon\|transforming microbial communities in cotton field soil were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. Correlation analysis was conducted to explore the relationships between the composition of carbon\|transforming microbial communities, soil enzyme activities, and soil organic carbon components. The results showed that compared to freshwater irrigation, saline water drip irrigation significantly increased soil moisture content and electrical conductivity by 27.6% and 84.2%, respectively, but significantly reduced soil pH, total organic carbon, easily oxidizable organic carbon, soluble organic carbon, and microbial biomass carbon content, decreasing by 7.8%, 15.4%, 3.5%, 10.4%, and 11.5%, respectively. Simultaneously, it significantly reduced the activities of sucrose, β-glucosidase, peroxidase, and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase by 57.7%, 31.8%, 10.5%, and 55.6%, respectively. The study identified the dominant phyla as Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria, with the dominant genera being Nocardioides, Streptomyces, and Sphingomonas. Long\|term saline water drip irrigation significantly reduced the relative abundance of genes related to organic carbon oxidation processes, specifically coxM, coxS, fae, fodH, and ubiX, while significantly increasing the relative abundance of fghA. The genes related to organic carbon oxidation processes showed positive correlations with easily oxidizable organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, and total organic carbon, while Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria were positively correlated with microbial biomass carbon. Long\|term saline water drip irrigation will alter the characteristics of soil carbon\|transforming microbial communities and functional genes while also affecting soil physicochemical properties, reducing organic carbon component content and enzyme activities. Among these, soil electrical conductivity (EC), soil water content (SWC), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are the main driving factors influencing carbon\|transforming microorganisms. |