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, the desktop description file further comprises a downloading link 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, the desktop description file further comprises a downloading link 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.