Abstract: It presents an investigation on the behavior of a steel plate shear wall frame structure strengthened by transverse braces. The horizontal parts of the crossed restrainers are connected to the boundary columns to act as the transverse braces in the structural system. Two 1/3 scale, one-bay, three-story frames with steel plate shear walls were tested under quasi-static cyclic loadings. The failure modes and hysteretic behavior of the specimens were compared and discussed. Deformation and stress concentration at the infilled steel plates, the boundary columns and the beam-to-column connections were also analyzed. The test results demonstrated that the steel plate shear wall frame with transverse braces exhibited better performance in terms of load carrying capacity, energy dissipation and stiffness. The incorporation of transverse braces in the steel plate shear wall frame could significantly reduce stress concentration at the beam-to-column connections and was effective to restrain the deformation of the boundary columns and the steel plate shear walls. Compared to the conventional steel plate shear wall frame, the pull-in deformation of the boundary columns was reduced by 20% with the addition of transverse braces. In addition, the noise and vibration of the steel plate shear walls in the frame under lateral loads were also improved with the contribution of transverse braces.