The mechanism of abrasion of sputtered metal nitride thin films on glass by the Taber abrasion test and the effects of mechanical and tribological properties of thin films on Taber abrasion were investigated. The abrasion occurred in a peeling mode: the dim was peeled off the substrate and the peeled area increased with increasing number of Taber abrading cycles. The peel rate per Taber cycle, a quantitative measure to represent the abrasion resistance of the thin films. was small in the film with greater adhesion strength, higher hardness and lower frictional resistance of the surface. The effect of these properties on the peel rate was represented with a mathematical equation of exponential form. The peel rate was found to vary most sensitively with the hardness.