Sustainable management of pastoral landscapes is essential for conserving steppe biodiversity and preventing desertification. In the arid grasslands of Central Asia, livestock overgrazing is a major driver of habitat degradation, yet the ecological responses of terrestrial arthropods, key components of these ecosystems, remain poorly understood. We tested how cessation of domestic grazing affects beetle assemblages by comparing traditionally grazed sites with sites ungrazed for short (<5 years) and long (>10 years) periods in western Mongolia. In addition to composition, we assessed responses of beetle species by their functional traits such as body size, dispersal mode, and trophic guild. In total, 986 individuals representing 106 beetle species were recorded. Community composition differed significantly among all management categories, with the strongest separation between grazed and short-term cessation sites. On the other hand, functional composition of beetles did not differ between the sites with different ungrazing regimes, although trait-based analyses revealed that short-term cessation (<5 years) was associated with large-bodied species. Our findings suggest that traditional nomadic grazing is associated primarily with shifts in species composition, while functional structure appears comparatively stable and may be shaped by additional environmental factors in Mongolian steppes. Management approaches that favour short-term grazing cessation or spatially heterogeneous grazing (e.g., rotational or patch grazing) may help maintain habitat heterogeneity and support insect diversity in steppe ecosystems.