The experimental results obtained on nanoindentation creep and evolution of indentation impressions made on the (100) face of MgO crystals from their in-situ observations by atomic force microscopy are described and discussed. The indentations were made by square pyramidal Si tips at a constant load of 2μN and indentation times, t i n d , between 0.001 and 10s. It was found that:the initial depth, d i , of indentations is practically constant for t i n d <0.1s but increases with increasing t i n d for t i n d >0.1s;the initial indentation diameter, a i , practically does not depend on t i n d ;an indented surface always tends to heal with time, but the time, t, of healing increases with penetration depth of d (i.e. on indentation time);the dependences of both d and a on recovery time, t, exhibit three recovery stages - an initial transient stage, a steady-state stage and a slow stage - and follow a power-law dependence in these stages; andindentation creep occurs for t i n d >0.1s.