The disclosure discloses a method and apparatus for protecting an image based on face recognition, the method including: recognizing, by a smart terminal, at least one face image in an image; setting, by the smart terminal, a protection flag for the image, and storing the image, upon determining that one of the at least one face image in the image matches successfully with one of face images in a protection list stored in the smart terminal, wherein the protection flag is configured to protect the image from accidental deletion.