This paper presents an investigation of the deformation response of thin oxide coatings on glass (ZnO, ITO, SnO₂ and TiO₂) during multi-cycling indentation using a nanoindenter fitted with a cube corner tip. Hysteresis during unloading and reloading was observed for both the coatings and the glass substrate when the load is beyond a threshold. The area of the hysteresis loop produced increases with load. Viscoelastic/viscoplastic deformation in the substrate and microcracking in the coating are the main causes of this although there is some evidence for an irreversible phase change in the tin oxide coating. The crack initiation load is lowest for the ZnO coating, which is consistent with results from in situ acoustic emission analysis. The fracture initation loads assessed from the appearance of a hysteresis loop for all coatings agree reasonably with previous acoustic emission measurements of crack initiation. The degeneration of the hysteresis loop after multiple cycling at constant loads reveals that fracture in the coating generally saturates after several cycles although this degradation is not significant for zinc oxide and crack tip plasticity contributes to the observed behaviour.