Provided are a method and device for controlling a terminal device by a remote control terminal and the remote control terminal. The method comprises the steps that a selection command sent by a television on the basis of operation of a user is received, a target wireless protocol corresponding to the selection command is selected from various wireless protocols supported by the remote control terminal according to the selection command, and the target wireless protocol is adopted to control the terminal device. According to the method and device for controlling the terminal device by the remote control terminal and the remote control terminal, the same remote terminal can be used for controlling multiple terminal devices supporting the different wireless protocols, and the user experience of the remote control terminal is improved.