Background <p>As a crucial indicator of individuals’ mental well-being, subjective well-being has garnered increasing interest from researchers. With the emergence of various social software, individuals’ subjective well-being is facing challenges from virtual community participation, especially among undergraduates with vocational backgrounds, a group that suffers more psychological difficulties than their peers in normal undergraduate programs. Therefore, this study aims to explore the condition and mediating mechanism of subjective well-being among undergraduates with vocational pathway backgrounds in the digital context.</p> Methods <p>219 university students with vocational backgrounds were recruited to explore their subjective well-being and its associations with fear of missing out and self-esteem. Correlation analysis, measurement model test, structural model test, and mediation test were used to verify the hypothesized research model.</p> Results <p>The findings revealed a negative correlation between fear of missing out and subjective well-being (r = − 0.24, p &lt; 0.01), a positive correlation between self-esteem and subjective well-being (r = 0.18, p &lt; 0.01), with self-esteem partially mediating the relationship between fear of missing out and subjective well-being (β = 0.08, t = 2.76, p &lt; 0.01). </p> Conclusion <p>It is concluded that the negative relationship between fear of missing out and subjective well-being is associated with self-esteem. This is the first study to explore self-esteem as a mediator in the relationship between the fear of missing out and subjective well-being among undergraduates with vocational pathway backgrounds. It fills a gap in the literature and provides a framework for understanding psychological mechanisms behind subjective well-being in this group.</p>