Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a control method and device for a terminal. The control method for the terminal provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure comprises: acquiring operation information of a user at an edge touch area of the terminal in a screen locking state; and controlling the terminal to execute unlocking operation according to the operation information of the user at the edge touch area of the terminal. With the technical solutions of the present disclosure, when the terminal is controlled to unlock, the operation is simple and convenient, the unlocking efficiency of the terminal is improved. The problem that the unlocking efficiency of the terminal is relatively low due to inconvenient operation when the terminal with a large touch screen is unlocked with one hand in the prior art can be solved.