Exploring the causal mechanisms of digital humanities projects failure is critical to digital humanities sustainability. Using the 22 “Best Exploration of DH Failure” from the 2014-2023 Digital Humanities Awards as the data source, we analyze the potential causes of digital humanities projects failure and their coping strategies in a phased and multi-dimensional way through case content analysis, combined with literature research and practical projects experiences. It is found that digital humanities projects have problems at the planning, literacy and ethical levels in the early stage of development; at the legal, technical and personnel levels in the middle stage of development, and at the financial, guarantee and archiving levels in the late stage of development. For this reason, the study proposes effective countermeasures for future digital humanities projects at different development stages from the dimensions of strategy and planning, implementation and operation, guarantee and support, so as to help the sustainability of the development of digital humanities projects.