<p>Cold deformation treatment of Cu-bearing stainless steel through a cold rolling process combined with electric pulse treatment (EPT) can significantly improve the microstructure and formability of cold-rolled Cu-bearing stainless steel. The microstructure after EPT was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and in-situ tensile testing. It is found that compared with conventional heat treatment, EPT process can significantly promote the nucleation rate and mobility at grain boundaries of the deformed samples, greatly accelerating the recovery and static recrystallization of Cu-bearing stainless steel samples at lower temperatures and contributing to the recovery of anisotropy and the re-molding of deformed samples. Microstructural characterization and theoretical analyses show that the rapid recrystallization during EPT process is caused not only by Joule heating effects but also by non-thermal effects that accelerate grain boundary migration and dislocation destruction and regeneration. In addition, EPT process significantly accelerated the nucleation and precipitation growth of Cu-rich phase. The coarsening of Cu-rich phase during EPT process is due to not only the high vacancy diffusion coefficient under the action of the electric pulse but also the increase in the vacancy diffusion flux induced by the electromigration in the process of the electric pulse.</p>