Analysis of soils for inorganic forms of N is complicated by the fact that the amounts of these forms of N can change significantly during transport, pretreatment and storage of soil samples. Studies of the effects of several pretreatments and storage conditions on the inorganic N contents of 10 Iowa soils indicated that storage at —5 C in an airtight container is a satisfactory method of preserving field‐moist soil samples for inorganic N analyses. Storage at this temperature did not cause a significant change in the exchangeable ammonium N, nitrate N, or fixed ammonium N contents of the soils studied (the average change after storage at −5 C for 9 months was 0.1 ppm for exchangable ammonium N, 0.8 ppm for nitrate N, and 0.3 ppm for fixed ammonium N). Air‐drying at 22 C increased the inorganic N contents of most of the soils studied, with the average increase 4.2 ppm for exchangeable ammonium N, 1.7 ppm for nitrate N, and 4.4 ppm for fixed ammonium N. Oven‐drying at 55 C resulted in a slightly larger increase in exchangeable ammonium N (average, 5.1 ppm) than did air‐drying at 22 C, and drying at 22 C in ammonia‐free air caused a smaller increase in exchangeable ammonium N (average, 1.9 ppm) than drying at the same temperature in laboratory air. Storage of air‐dried soils in paper bags for 9 months led to marked increases in their inorganic N contents, with the average increase 10.2 ppm for exchangeable ammonium N and 5.5 ppm for fixed ammonium N. Only small increases in exchangeable ammonium N, nitrate N, and fixed ammonium N contents were observed when air‐dried soils were stored in stoppered bottles.