Promoting the coordinated development of digital transformation and green transformation of manufacturing enterprises, and using digitalization to drive the green transformation of enterprises, are not only an inevitable trend under technological and economic development, but also the aspiration of the country and the people. Relying on digital technology, the development of new productive forces including smart manufacturing is both an internal requirement and a significant focus for promoting high-quality development. How to promote the green transformation of manufacturing enterprises is an important theoretical frontier issue that needs urgent attention. Based on the CSMAR database, CNRDS database, and annual reports of listed companies, this paper takes the A-share listed manufacturing companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2010 to 2022 as samples, adopts the entropy weight method, and combines the variables measuring the green development of enterprises in some studies to innovatively construct the comprehensive index of the green transformation of enterprises in this paper. Referring to Wu Fei et al. (2021), the text analysis method is used to measure the degree of enterprise digital transformation through the keyword frequency, and the impact of manufacturing enterprises’ digital transformation on green transformation is empirically tested. The study finds that the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises can significantly promote the green transformation of enterprises. This conclusion still holds after controlling for endogeneity and robustness factors. Existing literature predominantly examines the impact mechanism of enterprise green development from perspectives such as green R&D investment, environmental protection investment, and green total factor productivity. In contrast, this study focuses on both the internal and external environments of enterprises, considering not only behaviors and variables directly related to enterprise green development but also conducting mechanism studies from three aspects: transformation dynamics, resources for transformation, and production capabilities to transform resources into final outcomes. It finds that digital transformation promotes its green transformation by increasing media attention, reducing information asymmetry, and enhancing the level of smart manufacturing. Heterogeneity research shows that the promoting effect of digital transformation on green transformation is stronger in high-tech enterprises, non-heavy pollution enterprises, and non-western region enterprises. Regional environmental regulations positively moderate the promoting effect of digital transformation on corporate green transformation, although this moderation effect is not significant across technology attribute heterogeneity groups and is stronger for non-heavy pollution enterprises compared with heavy pollution enterprises. Compared with previous literature, this study expands on three aspects. Firstly, it expands on the research related to the economic consequences of digital transformation and the factors influencing green transformation. Existing literature often measures enterprise green transformation in a singular manner, whereas this paper innovatively constructs a comprehensive index for enterprise green transformation using multiple indicators. Secondly, unlike previous studies that typically examine mechanisms from a single, green development-related perspective, this paper explores the impact mechanisms of digital transformation on green transformation in manufacturing enterprises from three aspects: media attention, information asymmetry, and the level of intelligent manufacturing. Thirdly, the research in this paper has a certain degree of practical guidance significance, which is beneficial for enterprises to adjust their transformation strategies, respond to macro policies, adapt to changes in the external economic environment, and their development and construction. At the same time, it enhances the attention of relevant stakeholders to media governance, capital market information, new quality productive forces including intelligent technology, enterprise heterogeneity, and regional environmental regulation.