Multifunctional woven cotton fabric was successfully fabricated. The difference of coating methods and effect of pretreatment with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on the properties of prepared functional fabrics are evaluated. The results reveal that Ag-coated cotton sample presents electro-conductivity after pretreated with PVA while there is a little decrease in the UV blocking property. Moreover, samples impregnated with PVA and coated by magnetron sputtering method show a lower resistivity of 4.85 × 10^–6 Ω m, a better performance on IR shielding with a reflection rate above 30%, a higher electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) about − 10 dB compared with samples coated by thermal evaporation method; and the Ag-coated samples pretreated with PVA are all show an excellent antibacterial effect with an inhibition rate over 95%. The excellent properties of samples fabricated by different method provide a new functional fabric for the smart clothing and textile industrial.