During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nordic higher education institutions (HEIs) as any other learning providers had to abruptly switch from onsite in-person delivery strategies to a more ‘pandemic-friendly’ online mode. To manage these emergent transformations of learning environments successfully, development of teachers’ digital competence became pivotal. This study investigates the experiences of teachers and students from HEIs in the Nordic countries of the impact of the transition to online teaching during the pandemic crisis on teachers’ professional digital competence (TPDC). The findings indicate that the pandemic promoted teachers’ creativity and innovation, enabling individual initiatives, openness, and decentralization that demonstrates the Nordic HEIs readiness to mobilize relevant digital infrastructure and exert academic freedom in times of crises. The study further broadens the concept of TPDC involving aspects of well-being and physical environment as additional indicators, to ensure equality, inclusion, and sustainability in the future of online education in higher education.