The cutting fluids are widely used to reduce the temperature and friction between the tool and work piece in the metal cutting processes. This work investigates the enhancement in the tribological properties of the mineral oil (MO) based cutting fluid with the inclusion of silver nanoparticles. The nano-cutting fluid was prepared by adding various proportions of silver nanoparticles in the mineral oil based cutting fluids. The extreme pressure properties and wear preventive characteristics of the nano-cutting fluid were assessed as per ASTM standard. The wear surfaces were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The inclusion of silver nanoparticles in the base fluid as additive shows a gradual reduction in the friction and wear. The influence of silver nanoparticles improved the load-wear index of the cutting fluid by 8 % and reduced the wear scar diameter by 13%. With reference to the empirical data, all the concentration of nanoparticles exhibit the improvement in the extreme pressure and anti-wear properties of the nano-cutting fluid. The formation of thin tribofilm containing silver nanoparticles at the wear surface is most likely mechanism behind the improvement in tribological behavior of mineral oil-based nano-cutting fluid.