Disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention are a method and terminal for switching an operating mode. The method for switching an operating mode comprises: detecting a press operation executed by a user on a touch screen of a terminal; determining press information corresponding to said press operation; determining an operating mode corresponding to said terminal and said press information; switching the current operating mode of said terminal to an operating mode corresponding to said press information. In the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention, the switchover of the operating mode is triggered by the user's press operation; thus the method for switching the operating mode, provided by the embodiments of the present invention, is simple to operate and convenient.