Embodiments of this application provide an always-on-display method and an electronic device. The method includes: displaying, by an electronic device, an always-on-display screen, where the always-on-display screen includes a first image of a first display object; in response to detecting by the electronic device that an external object satisfies a first preset condition, displaying, by the electronic device, a second image of a second display object, where the second image is different from the first image. In the embodiments of this application, the always-on-display screen displayed by the electronic device can change according to the external object. When the external object satisfies a preset condition, a corresponding image or motion video is displayed, so that the always-on-display screen can be flexibly displayed.