Anatase niobium doped TiO2 thin films (Ti0.94Nb0.06O2) were prepared on quartz substrates by sol-gel spin coating technique and various initial concentrations ([Ti + Nb] in the solution) of 0.1 M and 0.4 M. All the films dried at 100 degrees C and then the annealing treatment performed by three different procedures. The influence of different annealing processes and total metal concentrations was studied on crystallinity, transparency, conductivity and morphology of thin films by XRD, EDX, FT-IR and UV-vis transmittance spectroscopy, four point probe, AFM and SEM images. It was found that two-step annealing procedure under vacuum is a more proper way to increase the conductivity of TNO thin films compared to one-step annealing process. Two-step method exhibited the minimum resistivity of 4.4 Omega cm and the transparency of about 50% in the visible region with 36 nm thickness. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.