It can be frustrating when you take a photo with your smartphone or camera and the image appears rotated or flipped when you view it later. There are a few common reasons photos can end up rotated:
- You held your phone or camera vertically instead of horizontally when taking the photo.
- The orientation sensor in your device was incorrect.
- The photo software read the orientation tag incorrectly.
The good news is there are easy ways to fix rotated photos on both mobile devices and computers. In this article, we’ll go over the step-by-step methods to rotate photos back to their proper orientation on iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac devices. We’ll also discuss how to check your camera and phone settings to prevent taking rotated photos in the future.
Part 1: Fixing Rotated Photos on iOS
The iPhone and iPad have built-in tools to quickly rotate photos right on your device. Here are the steps:
Using the Photos App
1. Open the Photos app and find the picture you want to rotate.
2. Tap the photo to view it in full screen.
3. Tap the Edit button in the upper right corner (this appears as three dots in a circle).
4. On the bottom toolbar, tap the Crop icon (this looks like a square with arrows coming from the corners).
5. At the bottom of the screen, tap the Rotate button as many times as needed to straighten the photo.
6. When finished, tap Done to save the changes. The original photo will now appear correctly rotated in your Photos gallery.
Using the Image Viewer
You can also quickly rotate single photos using the image viewer:
1. Open the photo you want to rotate.
2. Tap the screen once to bring up the viewing options at the bottom.
3. Tap the Rotate button on the bottom left to rotate the picture 90 degrees clockwise. Repeat this to rotate it further if needed.
4. Pinch the photo with two fingers to exit back to your Photos gallery. The change will automatically save.
Rotating photos on your iPhone or iPad is simple and only takes a few taps. Just open the photo, tap Edit, Rotate, and Done to permanently fix the orientation.
Part 2: Fixing Rotated Photos on Android
Android devices also make it easy to rotate photos from your gallery. The steps depend slightly on your Android model and OS version, but here are the general methods:
From the Photos Gallery
1. Open the Google Photos app and find the rotated picture.
2. Tap the photo thumbnail to open it.
3. Tap the 3 vertical dot menu icon in the top right corner.
4. Select Rotate left or Rotate right to turn the photo 90 degrees in either direction.
5. The photo will now appear corrected in your gallery.
From the Image Viewer
1. Open the photo you want to rotate.
2. Tap the screen once to show the action buttons.
3. Tap the Rotate icon at the bottom and choose left or right to rotate 90 degrees.
4. Tap the X or back button to save changes and exit the viewer.
Some versions of Android also allow you to pinch and rotate a photo with your fingers to quickly adjust the orientation manually.
Overall it just takes a couple taps to fix tilted photos from your Android Gallery or image viewers. Rotate left/right, save, and the photo will be permanently corrected.
Part 3: Rotating Photos on Windows PC
If you transfer photos from your mobile device to a Windows computer, you can use a few different methods to rotate pictures in the Windows Photos app.
From the Photos Gallery
1. Open the Photos app and find the rotated image.
2. Click the photo to open it in the viewer.
3. Click the Rotate button near the top left corner. Click it repeatedly to rotate the photo in 90 degree increments.
4. When the photo appears correctly oriented, click the back arrow to save the changes.
From the Image Viewer
You can also rotate photos that you open directly into the fullscreen viewer:
1. Right-click on the rotated photo thumbnail and choose Open.
2. The picture will open in the preview viewer. Click the Rotate button at the top to turn the photo clockwise in 90 degree turns.
3. Click the X in the top right corner to close the viewer and save changes.
Using the Paint 3D App
Another option is to open and rotate the photo using Paint 3D:
1. Right-click the photo thumbnail and choose Open with > Paint 3D.
2. The picture will open in Paint 3D. Click the Rotate button on the top menu.
3. Click the Rotate left or Rotate right buttons to rotate the photo 90 degrees in either direction.
4. Click the back arrow to save changes and close Paint 3D.
As you can see, Windows gives you a few handy ways to fix tilted photos right from the Photos app or image viewer. Just click to open the photo, rotate, save, and correct its orientation.
Part 4: How to Rotate Photos on Mac
Here are the steps to straighten photos in the Photos app on a Mac:
From the Photos Gallery
1. Open the Photos app and double-click the rotated thumbnail to open it.
2. Click the Edit button in the top right.
3. Click the Rotate button at the top and choose either 90 degrees left or right to rotate the picture.
4. When the photo appears upright, click Done to save changes.
From the Image Viewer
You can also rotate individual photos from the fullscreen viewer:
1. Right-click the photo thumbnail and choose Open in New Window.
2. The picture will open in the viewer. Click the Rotate Left or Rotate Right buttons at the top to rotate the photo 90 degrees.
3. Close the window and the orientation will be saved.
In addition, you can open the photo in Preview and use the Rotate tools there as well. Mac provides several easy routes to rotating pictures back to the proper angle.
Part 5: How to Prevent Taking Rotated Photos
While it’s handy to know how to rotate photos after you take them, it’s better to avoid the problem entirely. Here are some tips to prevent taking tilted pictures with your mobile device or camera:
- Hold your phone horizontally when taking landscape photos. Vertical grip can automatically rotate some images.
- Keep the camera lens parallel to the ground. Tilting can confuse the orientation sensor.
- Check your camera settings. Turn off auto image rotation if available.
- Be careful taking photos while moving or on uneven surfaces.
- Calibrate your device gyroscope if your camera axis seems off.
- Take some test photos and view the gallery to check for rotated images.
Paying attention to how you hold your camera and disabling certain device settings can help stop photos from automatically rotating in the first place.
Conclusion
Dealing with tilted photos can be annoying. Thankfully, every smartphone and computer OS has built-in tools to easily rotate pictures back to the proper orientation. Just open the photo, click Rotate, and save the changes.
To prevent rotated photos, hold your device carefully when shooting, disable auto rotation, and check your camera settings. With the right technique and awareness, you can avoid taking sideways pictures and spend less time fixing their orientation.
References
How to Rotate Photos on iPhone and iPad
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204577
- https://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/976528
How to Rotate Photos on Android
- https://support.google.com/photos/answer/6128838?hl=en
- https://www.samsung.com/nz/support/mobile-devices/how-to-rotate-pictures-on-android/
How to Rotate Photos on Windows
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/rotate-a-photo-in-the-photos-app-c2e466cb-c912-79c7-3db1-7e2ca9c4ae3d
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/rotate-image/9p1n7zm7rq5s?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
How to Rotate Photos on Mac
- https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/rotate-photos-phtad2a5947/mac
- https://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/02/25/how-to-rotate-a-photo-on-mac/