In this work, the mechanical deformation of GaN films was studied by nanoindentation. A nanoindenter was used to induce the nucleation of mechanical defects on the samples surfaces in a controlled manner. The morphology of the indentations and the microstructure of the defects were studied using atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that in the early stages of deformation, the nanoindentation process promotes slip at the atomic scale of the pyramidal planes of the crystal that can be reversed if the load is removed. If load is further increased, locking of these atomic plains occur leading to a hardened crystal region. It acts as an extension of the tip of the indenter redistributing the applied stress. At a critical stress, a major pop-in event occurs with the slip of the 1101, 1122 and 0001 plains leading then to irreversible plastic deformation. The influence of doping on the mechanical deformation has been studied and the results showed that it is more difficult to produce mechanical deformation in GaN films doped with Si and Mg doped than in undoped films. The self-recovery that occurs after removal of the tip was investigated using ZnO crystals with different orientations. The mechanism of thermal activation of dislocation loops was studied by observing the influence of temperature on the self-recovery process of the crystals. Cathodoluminescence measures were used to identify the resulting stress distributions associated with permanent plastic deformation showing that this induces tensile regions along the a 1120 directions in doped and undoped GaN films.