The influence of laser-conditioning scanning process on the damage threshold and the initiating defects of ZrO₂-SiO₂ 1064 nm high reflective (HR) coatings is analyzed.The changes of initiating defects in films are investigated before and after laser-conditioning scanning process based on that defects damage and density are used to characterize the initiating defects.The relation between the laser-conditioning energy density and the laser-conditioning effect is also investigated.It is found that the defects with lower threshold can be removed by laser-conditioning process.However,the defects with higher threshold can be transformed to defects with lower threshold when the scanning energy density is higher.So the laser energy density used in the laser-conditioning scanning process should be relatively lower.