The mechanical behavior of Si under micro- and nanoindentation has been widely investigated recently, but lateral modes of point-contact deformation, i.e. micro- and nanoscratching, are less studied, although this knowledge can be important for such applications like ultraprecision machining or nano/microstructuring of Si surface. In this context the aim of this work is the investigation of deformation peculiarities under scratching, depending on strain rate, load value and orientation of the indenter relative to the direction of scratching. The scratching tests were carried out on Si (100) by using the instrumented nanoindentation device equipped with trihedral pyramidal Berkovich indenter, in <110> crystallographic direction with both edge-on and face-on orientation of the indenter. The normal load ranged from 2mN to 20mN and the scratching rate varyed in the interval of 20†300μm/s. It was observed that the load value influences the mechanism of deformation, which changes from plastic to fragile with its increase. By using the atomic force microscopy the morphology of scratches was vizualized, demonstrating a non-homogeneous, stepped relief that is explained by the micro-mechanical instability of the deformation process taking place in a non-uniform manner, by snatching [1, 2]. The influence of the scratching rate in combination with load on the evolution of the fine relief of the scratch track was analyzed. It was found that the material behaves more plastically under low rate scratching that is confirmed by pronounced pile-ups of extruded material in contrast with the scratches made at higher rate, around which the pile-ups are much smaller or they are quite absent (Fig. 1). This fact explains the increase of the obtained values of scratch hardness with increase of scratching rate that is consistent with the results obtained previously on other materials (Pb, Zn, Co, steel) [3]. The orientation of indenter relative to the scratching direction induces its contribution to the deformation mechanism resulting in higher strain created under edge-on moving as compared with face-on.