Disclosed herein is a mobile terminal and an operation control method thereof in which the status of a wireless communication unit is controlled based on a user's usage pattern for the wireless communication unit in the mobile terminal, thereby reducing the consumption of a battery caused by the abuse of the wireless communication unit in the mobile terminal and allowing the user to conveniently connect to an external device. In order to accomplish the foregoing object, the mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a wireless communication unit; a storage unit configured to store a usage pattern of the wireless communication unit; and a controller configured to provide an interface of changing or capable of changing the wireless communication unit to an active or inactive state based on the usage pattern, wherein the usage pattern is changed based on time or location information.