High stresses and complex deformations usually develop in thin films during indentation tests. Understanding the stresses and deformations in thin films is beneficial for the development of sound mechanical and thermomechanical components. This paper investigates the stress field and deformations in thin films under microindentation using finite element analysis. The featuzres of the distribution of stress and strain are described. The change of the stress distribution as a function of Young’s modulus to the equivalent yield stress ratio (E/sigma(ey)) of the film is presented. The effects of the thickness of the film and the radius of the indenter on the stress are investigated. The results from the finite element analysis are found to be in a good agreement with experimental data and can be used to develop a reliable mechanical design methodology.