Preventing and mitigating commercial bank risks is related to the stability of the financial system and the healthy development of the economy. Whether and how the digital transformation of commercial banks mitigates their risk level has important research value. This paper takes 2011–2021 commercial banks as a sample to study the impact and mechanism of digital transformation on the risk level of commercial banks. The results of the study show that, first, digital transformation can significantly inhibit the risk level of commercial banks. Second, the mechanism test results show that the above effects are realized through two paths of improving banks' liquidity and management capacity. Third, the heterogeneity study found that the inhibiting effect of digital transformation on bank risk level is stronger among rural commercial banks, city commercial banks, and banks with higher capital adequacy ratios.