This work is a critical preventive study for providing a healthy life and enhancing people's safety at work in which introduces of highly efficient and durable UV-protection and antibacterial textiles. With this aim, ZnO nanoparticles are in situ synthesized on the modified cotton fabric to produce the multifunctional fabrics. Herein, the cotton fabric is oxidized by periodate and then treated by 4-aminobenzoic acid ligand (PABA). The modified cotton fabrics are characterized via X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance, scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Moreover, the anti-bacterial, UV-protection, hydrophilicity, and mechanical properties of samples are investigated. The results show that pre-oxidization cotton fabric provides better active sites for the treatment with PABA. Then, PABA treatment provides significant sites for the growth of the ZnO nanoparticles and maintains cross-linking property between oxidized cellulosic fibers and the ZnO nanoparticles which improves the formation and durability of ZnO nanoparticles. The simultaneous sample treatment with ZnO and PABA had synergistic effects on UV protection, stability, and mechanical properties. Moreover, the ZnO PABA oxidized cotton fabrics show excellent UV-protection and significant antibacterial efficacy after 20 washing cycles and 100 abrasion cycles, which can be used in advanced protective textiles.