The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a cell state management method and an apparatus, a terminal device, and a network device. The method includes receiving, by a terminal device, first configuration information sent by a network device, where the first configuration information is used to indicate whether a state of a first cell is a first state or a second state, the first state represents an active state with a dormancy behavior, and the second state represents an active state with a non-dormancy behavior.