A desktop sharing method, comprising: receiving, by a first terminal, a first operation of a user; when the first operation meets a first preconfigured condition, receiving an operation of selecting at least one application interface element that needs to be shared; determining, by the first terminal, a desktop drawing file according to the at least one application interface element on a desktop of the first terminal selected by a user, when the first operation meets the first preconfigured condition, wherein the desktop drawing file comprises a desktop description file and a file package of only the selected at least one application interface element, the desktop drawing file comprises information about a screen interface on the desktop on which the selected application interface element is located and the desktop drawing file is used to draw a desktop comprising the selected at least one application interface element; the desktop description file describes each selected application interface element, the location of each selected application interface element displayed on the desktop of the first terminal, a package name, a name of each selected application interface element and a location at which a thumbnail of the selected at least one application interface element is stored in the file package; and the file package comprises the thumbnail of the selected at least one application interface element, wherein the application interface element is a desktop application, and the file package comprises software of the desktop application; and sharing, by the first terminal, the determined desktop drawing file, so that a second terminal updates a desktop of the second terminal according to the shared desktop drawing file. receiving, by a first terminal, a first operation of a user; when the first operation meets a first preconfigured condition, receiving an operation of selecting at least one application interface element that needs to be shared; determining, by the first terminal, a desktop drawing file according to the at least one application interface element on a desktop of the first terminal selected by a user, when the first operation meets the first preconfigured condition, wherein the desktop drawing file comprises a desktop description file and a file package of only the selected at least one application interface element, the desktop drawing file comprises information about a screen interface on the desktop on which the selected application interface element is located and the desktop drawing file is used to draw a desktop comprising the selected at least one application interface element; the desktop description file describes each selected application interface element, the location of each selected application interface element displayed on the desktop of the first terminal, a package name, a name of each selected application interface element and a location at which a thumbnail of the selected at least one application interface element is stored in the file package; and the file package comprises the thumbnail of the selected at least one application interface element, wherein the application interface element is a desktop application, and the file package comprises software of the desktop application; and sharing, by the first terminal, the determined desktop drawing file, so that a second terminal updates a desktop of the second terminal according to the shared desktop drawing file.