The inhibition effect of methyl violet (MV) on the corrosion of cold rolled steel (CRS) in 1.0 M sulfuric acid (H2SO4) was investigated by weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods. The results show that MV is a good inhibitor, and inhibition efficiency increases with inhibitor concentration, while decreases with the temperature. The adsorption of MV on CRS surface obeys Langmuir adsorption isotherm equation. The thermodynamic parameters of adsorption enthalpy (Delta HA degrees), adsorption free energy (Delta GA degrees) and adsorption entropy (Delta SA degrees) are calculated and discussed. Potentiodynamic polarization curves show that MV acts as a mixed-type inhibitor in sulfuric acid. EIS exhibits one capacitive loop which indicates that the corrosion reaction is controlled by charge transfer process. Inhibition efficiency values obtained from weight loss, polarization and EIS are in reasonably good agreement. The adsorbed film on CRS surface containing optimum dose of MV was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Depending on the results, the inhibitive mechanism is proposed from the viewpoint of adsorption theory.