Rare earth (RE) ions combined with two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors can exhibit unexpected optical properties. However, fluorescence quenching has always been inevitable due to defects associated with the synthesis and doping of 2D materials. In this work, we reported an efficient upconversion (UC) enhancement of Er3+ doped BiOCl nanosheets, utilizing a defect engineering strategy conversely rather than eliminating defects. Experiments and theoretical calculations provide evidence that oxygen vacancies (OVs) and lattice strain are simultaneously formed in the BiOCl:Er3+ nanosheets through self-doping of Cl- ions. Under 980 nm excitation, samples doped with 300 mol% Cl- ions exhibit the best luminescent emission, and the green and red UC emissions are enhanced 3.5 and 15 times, respectively. We showed that the OVs in the 2D semiconductor can act as energy bridges to transfer charges to the Er3+ energy level, enriching the electron population at the excited levels; while, the lattice strain enhances the energy transfer and charge accumulation, which synergistically enhance the UC luminescence. This research provides a new insight into the development of defect engineering for UC PL in 2D nanomaterials.