A method for locating an idle-state user equipment and an apparatus are disclosed. An access network device updates a cell location identifier in a system message to a preset location identifier, and notifies, by using a paging message, idle-state UE in a cell that the system message is changed, so as to trigger the idle-state UE in the cell to read the system message and learn that the cell location identifier is updated. Therefore, the idle-state UE is triggered to initiate a location update process. The access network device locates the idle-state UE in the cell according to the location update process initiated by the idle-state UE in the cell, thereby locating the idle-state UE.