This study presents an experimental investigation on the effect of quartz powder on the compressive strength of high performance engineered cementitious composites (HP-ECC). Four different HP-ECC mixtures were considered ECC mixture with PVA fibres and zero quartz powder, ECC made with PVA fibres and quartz powder, ECC made with steel fibres and zero quartz powder, ECC made with steel fibres and quartz powder respectively. Different percentages of steel and PVA fibres were investigated at 0 to 2. The compressive strength of HP-ECC was examined for 1, 7, 14, and 28 days. Based on the experimental results, it was found that the inclusion of quartz powder leads to enhancement in the compressive strength. Compressive strength of more than 100 MPa was obtained for both ECC made with quartz powder. On the other hand, the fibres type has a negligible effect on the performance of HP-ECC. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.