Abstract: Improving the governance ability of rural cadres is an important practical path to promote the modernization of rural governance system and governance ability. Based on the survey data of 675 village cadres in Yunnan Province, this paper empirically analyzes the effect and mechanism of digital literacy on the governance ability of village cadres. The results show that the improvement of digital literacy can significantly promote the improvement of village cadres’ governance ability. The mechanism analysis found that digital literacy can effectively empower village cadres’ governance ability by enhancing the ability to obtain information and enhancing the accumulation of human capital. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the difference of digital literacy within the village cadres’ group will lead to the differentiation of their governance ability, and the effect of digital literacy on the governance ability of village cadres with higher ability level is more significant. At the same time, digital literacy can significantly improve the policy implementation ability, digital governance ability and industry driving ability of village cadres. Based on this, the paper puts forward some policy suggestions, such as improving the incentive and guarantee mechanism for the promotion of village cadres’ digital literacy, opening up the path of digital empowerment, and building a differentiated digital literacy cultivation system.