Magnetron sputtered near equiatomic NiTi thin films were deposited on Si (100) and hot work tool steel substrates. The deposited thin films were in-situ annealed at four different temperatures viz., 80 degrees C, 305 degrees C, 425 degrees C, and 525 degrees C. The effect of the in-situ annealing temperature on the microstructure of the film, the morphology, as well as mechanical and tribological properties was studied using X-ray diffraction, synchrotron diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, ball-on-disc, scratch test, and three dimensional optical microscopy. The obtained results revealed how the variation of in-situ annealing temperature affects the crystallization, microstructure evolution, as well as mechanical and tribological properties of NiTi thin films. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.