The effects of metal ions such as Mg2+, Li+, Na+ and K+ on the cathodic current efficiency, deposit morphology, crystallographic orientation and polarization behaviour during nickel deposition on stainless steel from aqueous sulfate solutions containing boric acid were investigated. There was virtually no change in current efficiency in presence of these metal ions, but changes were observed in the deposit morphologies and crystal orientations even though all the deposits looked bright, smooth and coherent. Changes were also observed in the polarization behaviour during nickel electrocrystallization in presence and absence of boric acid. An attempt has been made to correlate the effect of these metal ions on various parameters studied.