A terminal management method and an apparatus, where the method includes that a terminal obtains a first light intensity at a first moment and a second light intensity at a second moment according to a first interval period. The second moment is later than the first moment. When a difference between the first light intensity and the second light intensity is greater than a first threshold, and the second light intensity is less than a second threshold, the terminal closes a target program. It can be learnt from above that, the terminal can determine, according to a variation in light intensities, whether the terminal is blocked by clothes, and close the target program. This reduces running power consumption of the terminal and increases a standby time of the terminal.