As an important group II-VI semiconductor material, zinc oxide (ZnO) single crystal has excellent optical, electrical, pressure-sensitive, and gas-sensitive properties,which makes it suitable for short-wavelength optoelectronic devices, piezoelectric converters, varistors, transparent high-power electronic devices, solar cells and other aspects. Zinc oxide (ZnO) single crystal has broad application prospects. However, during the process of crystal processing and device using, ZnO single crystal will have scratches, pits, micro-cracks and other surface damages under the action of external stressing, which will lead to performance degradation of material and device or even invalidity. Therefore, the work aims to study the micro-nano scale scratch properties of (0001) plane ZnO single crystal experimentally, to provide an important scientific basis for improving the performance of ZnO single crystal devices. Nanoscratch tests were carried out on (0001) plane ZnO single crystal at different scratch velocities through both edge-forward and face-forward scratch mode. (0001) plane ZnO single crystal sample size was 10 mm×5 mm×1 mm. The nanoscratch test parameters were:the scratch normal load was 20 mN, the scratch velocity was 2, 10, 20, 50 and 100 μm/s, respectively and the scratch distance was 100 μm. To avoid the effect on the experimental accuracy of temperature, all tests were performed at a temperature of about 23 ℃. The morphology of the grooves after nanoscratch was observed. Finally, the effects of scratch velocity and scratch mode on the micro-nano scale scratch characteristics were analyzed. When the scratch velocity increased from 2 μm/s to 100 μm/s, the scratch depth corresponding to edge-forward scratch mode decreased from 352.9 nm to 326.9 nm, and that corresponding to face-forward scratch mode decreased from 352.7 nm to 289.9 nm; the lateral force corresponding to edge-forward scratch mode was reduced from 4.15 mN to 3.93 mN, and that corresponding to face-forward scratch mode was reduced from 5.12 mN to 4.45 mN; the friction coefficient corresponding to edge-forward scratch mode dropped from 0.21 to 0.19, and that corresponding to face-forward scratch mode has dropped from 0.25 to 0.2; the residual depth of scratch groove corresponding to edge-forward scratch mode was reduced from 162.2 nm to 138.4 nm, and that corresponding to face-forward scratch mode was reduced from 148.3 nm to 129.9 nm; the plastic upheaval height on both sides of the scratch groove corresponding to edge-forward scratch mode was reduced from 23 nm to 17 nm, and that corresponding to face-forward scratch mode was reduced from 18 nm to 11 nm. It can be concluded that scratch depth, lateral force, friction coefficient, groove residual depth, and plastic upheaval height on both sides of the (0001) plane ZnO single crystal all decrease as the scratch velocity increases. Moreover, at the same scratch velocity, the scratch depth, groove residual depth, and plastic upheaval height on both sides of the groove corresponding to edge-forward scratch mode of the (0001) plane ZnO single crystal are larger than those corresponding to face-forward scratch mode. This is because that the indenter and sample contact area of (0001) plane ZnO single crystal edge-forward scratch mode and face-forward scratch mode are different. However, the lateral force and friction coefficient corresponding to edge-forward scratch mode are smaller than those corresponding to face-forward scratch mode.