In this study, effect of sputtering on the plasma-nitriding substrate and before PVD coating on the microstucture, microhardness, surface roughness and the adhesion strength of CrZrN thin films were investigated. Experimental results showed that this sputtering process not only removed surface compound layer which formed during a plasma nitriding process but also induced an alteration of the surface of plasma nitrided substrate in terms of microhardness distribution, surface roughness. This in turn affected the adhesion strength of PVD coatings. After sputtering, microhardness distribution showed general decrease and the surface roughness became increased slightly. The critical shear stress measured from the scratch test on the CrZrN coatings showed an approximately 1.4 times increase in the adhesion strength through the sputtering prior to the coating and this could be attributed to a complete removal of compound layer from the plasma nitrided surface and to an increase in the surface roughness after sputtering.