【Objective】Soil microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) is an important indicator reflecting the regulation of the soil carbon cycle by microorganisms through their metabolism. However, the response and driving factors of soil microbial CUE to different management measures in cropland ecosystems are still unclear. This hinders a deep understanding of soil organic carbon turnover, rapid improvement of soil fertility, and effective mitigation of climate change.【Method】We collected published literature from around the world, and established 198 paired of relatively independent soil microbial CUE databases under different cropland management measures, including 13C-labeled substrate (CUE13C), 18O-labeled water (CUE18O) and stoichiometric model (CUEST) approaches. We quantitatively evaluated the response of soil microbial CUE to different cropland management measures under specific climate, soil properties, and experimental conditions by meta-analysis, combining Pearson and regression analysis to study the biotic and abiotic factors that control soil microbial CUE variation.【Result】(1) Compared with no biochar addition, biochar addition increased soil microbial CUE13C and CUE18O by 9.40% and 18.22%, respectively, while CUEST decreased by 40.01%. Compared with no fertilization, the application of chemical fertilizers could reduce soil microbial CUE18O (-4.71%), but increased soil microbial CUEST (28.20%), whereas straw amendments led to a decrease in soil microbial CUE18O and CUEST by 14.08% and 28.64%, respectively. Relative to conventional tillage, no or reduced tillage significantly increased soil microbial CUE13C, CUE18O, and CUEST (-2.12%-15.45%). (2) There were significant differences in the effects of cropland management measures on soil microbial CUE under different climates, soil properties and experimental conditions. Cropland management measures in semi-arid and humid areas reduced the soil microbial CUE13C by 8.80% and increased by 4.69%, but the soil microbial CUE18O decreased from 44.57% to -2.31%. When the soil organic carbon content was > 12 g·kg-1, cropland management measures increased the soil microbial CUE13C and CUEST by 7.79% and 12.87%, respectively. In the transition from acidic to alkaline soils, cropland management measures caused the soil microbial CUE13C to decrease from 12.74% to -7.51%. Also, as soil clay content increased, soil microbial CUE13C and CUEST decreased, while soil microbial CUE18O showed an increasing trend. With the increase of soil cation exchange capacity, soil microbial CUE18O and CUEST showed a decreasing trend. When the experimental duration was 3-10 years, cropland management measures increased soil microbial CUE18O by 43.49% while soil microbial CUEST decreased by 23.72%. (3) Soil microbial CUE13C increased with aridity index and decreased with soil pH. Furthermore, the soil microbial CUE18O increased with soil microbial growth rate and soil microbial biomass carbon. Soil organic carbon, β-glucosidase and N-acetyl-glucosaminidase were positively correlated with soil microbial CUEST (P < 0.05) whereas soil clay content was negatively correlated with soil microbial CUEST (P < 0.01). 【Conclusion】Considering climatic factors and soil chemical properties, and the response of microbial activity and function to cropland management measures at a specific site is conducive to adjusting the soil microbial CUE at the microbial community or cell level, thereby effectively promoting soil carbon formation and accumulation in cropland ecosystems.