Abstract Tillage methods affect soil aggregates and influence soil bacterial communities. However, the direct and indirect linkages between soil aggregates and soil bacterial communities are still not clear. In this study, we studied the linkages between soil bacterial diversity and soil aggregates under three tillage types (conventional tillage, CT; no tillage, NT; and subsoiling tillage, ST). All of the tillage methods were conducted for 10 years. After 10 years, soil aggregates and bacterial communities differed significantly among the three tillage types. Compared to the CT treatment, the NT treatment significantly increased the >1 mm soil aggregates (P CT > ST, and it influenced four bacterial communities (Chloroflexi, gamma-Proteobacteria, delta-Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia). Spearman correlation analysis suggested the >1 mm soil aggregates showed a positive correlation with the soil bacterial alpha diversity (species, Shannon and ACE indices), but the correlation with the