There are serious problems with the formability of alloys which are relatively hard and brittle below ambient temperatures, e.g., in cold extrusion and drawing processes. It is known that electrochemical surface treatment can decrease residual stresses and hardness of the surface layer as a result of the chemomechanical effect (CME), and also improve the plastic deformation ability, e.g., deep drawing of high-strength alloys. Plastic deformation ability of materials can be characterized by hardness measurements. The present study shows some possibilities to improve the surface ductility of carbon steels and FeSi6.5 steel under anodic polarization depending on the current density, composition and pH of acids and chloride electrolytes. The relative Vickers hardness (RVH) amounting to a squared ratio of the penetration depth of a cone indenter in air as compared to that in a solution (h(air)/h(sol))(2) was found as a function of the current density and the electrolyte composition. A decrease in hardness of the surface layer as a result of anodic electrochemical polarization was found for different steels. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.