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To investigate the independent and joint associations between sedentary behaviors (SB) and physical activity (PA) with inhibitory control (IC) in adults. A total of 111 participants (median age = 30 years; 60% women), completed the Stroop Color-Words test to assess IC. They also wore accelerometers for seven days to measure SB, light PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), and daily steps. We previously set cutoff points for SB and PA measurements and tested them to determine their association with IC. All analyses were adjusted for potential confounding factors including age, gender, post-secondary education, income, body mass index, and accelerometer wear time. Low SB, high MVPA, and high daily steps were independently associated with a better IC compared to their respective counterparts. Adults with low levels of SB and light PA demonstrated better IC performance (β = −227.67, 95%CI = −434.14 to −21.20) compared to those with high SB and low light PA. Conversely, individuals with high SB and high light PA exhibited worse performance (β = 126.80, 95%CI = 2.11 to 251.50) than those in the high SB and low light PA group. Furthermore, the joint association of low SB with high MVPA (β = −491.12, 95%CI = −689.23 to −293.01) or low SB with high daily steps (β = −254.29, 95%CI = −416.41 to −92.16) demonstrated better IC performance compared to those with high SB and low MVPA or low daily steps. Our findings highlight independent and joint associations between low SB, high MVPA, and high daily steps with enhanced IC in adults. • < 9 h/day of sedentary behavior was associated with better inhibitory control. • ≥ 21 min/day of MVPA was related to enhanced inhibitory control. • A minimum of 5000 daily steps were linked to better inhibitory control in adults. • Low SB with high MVPA or daily steps has a positive impact on inhibitory control. • Our study emphasizes SB and PA synergy for improved inhibitory control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]