This study proposes an experimental method for studying the short-term creep behaviour of 13 cement paste at micro-scale. The micro-bending tests on miniaturized cantilever beams were 14 used to characterize the viscoelastic properties of cement paste. The effects of w/b ratio, the type 15 of binder and the stress level on the microscopic creep behaviour were investigated. It is found 16 that the short-term creep of cement paste at microscale can be satisfactorily described by a 17 power-law function. A linear viscoelastic behaviour has been observed in different cementitious 18 systems at the microscale with the stress level up to 67.9%. When compared with the creep 19 results in microindentation tests and conventional macroscopic tests, the obtained creep 20 compliance function in this study is found to be both qualitatively and quantitatively 21 representative of the macroscopic results. This experimental study underlines the importance of 22 microstructural effect on the creep behaviours of cementitious materials at microscale. cement paste, creep, miniaturized cantilever beam, nanoindenter