A method for unlocking a screen saver includes: when a screen is in a screen saver state, receiving a motion track input by a user on the screen; and when the motion track crosses boundaries of a first area and a second area of the screen at least two times, enabling the screen to exit the screen saver state. With the above technical solutions, characteristics of the motion track on the screen are detected, for example, the number of times of crossing the boundaries of the first area and second area of the screen; therefore, the screen saver can be unlocked based on the flexibly input motion track, so that the screen saver can be unlocked more flexibly.