Provided are a display substrate and a control method therefor, a display panel, and a display device. The display substrate is disposed in the display panel and includes a first substrate and multiple mode switching electrodes and multiple data lines disposed on the first substrate; wherein, the mode switching electrode is disposed on a side of the data line away from the first substrate and insulated from the data line, and an orthographic projection of the mode switching electrode on the first substrate covers part of an orthographic projection of the data line on the first substrate; and the mode switching electrode is configured to switch display modes of the display panel, wherein the display modes include a normal mode and a privacy mode.