In this paper,the development of nanoindentation and its application in coating were reviewed. The construction and working process of the electro-magnetic driven nanoindentation instrument mainly used under current laboratory conditions were introduced. In order to ensure the accuracy of the test results, indentation experiments were carried out at the appropriate temperature and humidity to eliminate some avoidable errors with the help of holding. The classification and selection principles of the indenter were described:the Berkovich indenter has a smaller angle between the centerline and the prism than the Vickers indenter, which avoids the influence of the cross-edge of the tip on the accuracy of the indentation results, so the most commonly used indenter is the Berkovich indenter; the most suitable indenter to characterize the fracture toughness is the cubic angle indenter; the wedge indenter is used to characterize the bending of the MEMS. The analytical procedure for obtaining the mechanical parameters of the coating by maximum load and indentation area was summarized. The application of nanoindentation to characterize mechanical quantities such as hardness and elastic modulus, creep properties at room temperature, fracture toughness, residual stress, and plastic properties of coating were summarized. Such as:the application of Oliver-Pharr method for determining hardness and elastic modulus, the application of Lee-Radok model for identifying creep flexibility, and the application of Lawn-Evans-Marshall model for analyzing fracture toughness. During the preparation of coating, the preparation parameters can be changed to make the coating have different mechanical properties; the thickness of coating was far less than surface dimension, hardness and elastic modulus show anisotropic. Amorphous structured coating has higher hardness and elastic modulus; Carbon nanotube can improve the fracture toughness of coating Some residual stress and the proper type within the coating can improve the mechanical properties of coating. Coatings with multilayer structure and gradient structure, et al. have better mechanical properties. Nanoindentation technology combined with AFM can realize in-situ measurement; combined with the finite element model (FEM) can improve the theoretical model and broaden application of the model. Finally, the prospect of nanoindentation technology in coatings was prospected.