Abstract: To address the issues of poor plasticity and toughness and severe longitudinal cracking in ultra-low carbon SPHD cold-rolled sheets produced by a steel mill, an automated inclusion scanner, EPMA, OM, SEM, and TEM were employed to analyze element segregation, microstructure, inclusions, and precipitates in the SPHD cold-rolled sheets. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted on the factors affecting plasticity and toughness, as well as the causes of bending-induced cracking. The results revealed that chain-like carbide precipitation at grain boundaries and band-like phosphorus segregation were the primary contributors to the poor plasticity and toughness, leading to bending-induced cracking. To improve the bending performance of ultra-low carbon SPHD cold-rolled sheets, three measures should be implemented.First, carbon content should be minimized to prevent excessive precipitation of tertiary cementite along grain boundaries. Second, a small amount of Ti can be added to fix C and form Ti(C,N), thereby inhibiting tertiary cementite precipitation. Third, the levels of harmful impurities such as P and S in the steel, as well as the number of large-sized sulfide inclusions, should be reduced to enhance the plasticity and toughness of the steel.