A method for driving a plasma display device which includes a plasma display panel provided with a plurality of discharge cells having a display electrode pair including a scan electrode and a sustain electrode, a temperature detection circuit for detecting an ambient temperature of the panel and outputting an detected temperature, and an APL detection circuit for detecting an APL of an image signal. The method provides an unusual-charge erasing period for applying a rectangular waveform voltage to the scan electrode between the initializing period and the address period in at least one subfield among the plurality of subfields; and controls a time period during which the rectangular waveform voltage is applied, based on the detected temperature detected by the temperature detection circuit and the APL detected by the APL detection circuit.