A mobile terminal and an operating method thereof are provided. The mobile terminal includes a terminal body; and a terminal case coupled to the terminal body to cover at least a front surface of the terminal body, the terminal body comprising: a display unit disposed at the front surface thereof, to display an image; a sensing unit sensing whether the front surface of the display unit is covered by the terminal case; and a controller controlling an operation of the display unit, and the terminal case comprising: a terminal coupling part to which the terminal body is coupled; a front cover part rotatably coupled to the terminal coupling part to cover the front surface of the terminal body and including a window for allowing a light emitted from the display unit to be transmitted; and a pattern part provided at a portion of the front cover part corresponding to a region other than the window, wherein the display unit is defined by an exposed region corresponding to the window and a hidden region corresponding to the region other than the window, wherein when a signal to turn on the display unit is input in a state where the front cover part covers the front surface of the display unit, the controller is configured to display a user interface at least in the hidden region, to enable a user input through a manipulation of the pattern part.