Application calling method and terminal

The invention provides an application calling method and a terminal. The method comprises the steps of detecting a first operation of a user on an icon of a first application; calling a starting icon of a target application associated with the first application; detecting a second operation of selecting and calling the target application by the user through the starting icon; and starting the target application. The terminal comprises a first operation detection module used for detecting the first operation of the user on the icon of the first application, a starting icon calling module used for calling the starting icon of the target application associated with the first application, a second operation detection module used for detecting the second operation of selecting and calling the target application by the user through the starting icon, and a target application starting module used for starting the target application. According to the method and the terminal, the target application can be quickly searched for in a plurality of applications of the terminal.