Abstract: Shaanxi section of the Yellow River Basin is the key area for the high-quality development strategy of the Yellow River Basin, and it is of great significance to investigate its vegetation changes and driving forces for ecological protection and sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin. Based on the GEE platform, the vegetation cover data of the study area from 2000 to 2023 was estimated, and the variation coefficient, center of gravity migration model, trend analysis method, Hurst index and geographic detector were comprehensively used to reveal the spatiotemporal evolution patterns and driving mechanisms of vegetation in the study area. The results indicated that: (1) From 2000 to 2023, the vegetation cover (FVC) in the study area exhibited a significantly fluctuating upward trend, which reflecting overall vegetation improvement. Spatial differentiation was observed in the migration of vegetation centers across different coverage levels: centers for low and moderately low coverage (FVC≤0.4) shifted northeastward, while those for medium-high coverage (0.4<FVC≤1) moved northward. Regional vegetation coverage exhibited strong variability, with high-fluctuation zones (CV≥0.2) covering over two-thirds of the area, showing high spatial overlap with high-coverage zones. (2) Vegetation improvement trends were sustainable across most of the study area, though localized degradation risks exist in Weinan, Xianyang, and Yan'an. (3) The annual average precipitation had the strongest explanatory power (q=0.66), which was the dominant factor influencing FVC changes in the study area. The explanatory power of the interactions among all factors was greater than that of individual factor, indicating that the coupling of natural and social factors significantly influenced regional vegetation cover changes. These findings provide important reference value for ecological conservation and development in the Yellow River Basin.