<p>The anisotropic characteristics of rocks elastic deformation is determined through digital borehole testing, which is crucial to evaluate the engineering performance of rocks. This paper presents a new approach for assessing the elastic deformation characteristics and its directional changes. A segmented function correlating drilling strength and the specific energy is attributed to crushing failure. An equivalent parameter is offered to calculate the elastic modulus of rocks. Furthermore, an anisotropy index is introduced based on the variation in the equivalent elastic modulus across various drilling directions. Digital borehole tests were used to demonstrate the anisotropic characteristics of three types of rocks at drilling directions of 0°, 60° and 120°. The rock’s elastic modulus and anisotropy index are verified through compression experiments. The results show that the cutting and friction states are distinguished by a critical point in the drilling response and exhibit anisotropy along the borehole direction. The anisotropy along the drilling directions is quantified by the coefficient of variation (CoV). The order of anisotropy for rocks is ranked as Granite (0.94) &lt; Shale (0.81) &lt; Sandstone (0.70). In addition, the equivalent elastic modulus derived from drilling data can accurately calculate the rock’s modulus with a linear function correlation coefficient reaching 0.94. This study provides an effective approach to assess the elastic modulus and anisotropy of rocks using digital drilling.</p>