How to Rotate a Video

Sometimes phone video gets recorded in the wrong orientation. Maybe you held the phone sideways but it saved landscape; maybe you recorded vertically and the app expected horizontal. The video plays sideways or upside-down. Fixing it is straightforward on every platform.

On iPhone

In Photos app:

1. Open the video
2. Tap Edit
3. Tap the crop/rotate icon (bottom)
4. Tap the rotate button (curved arrow) — rotates 90° each tap
5. Tap Done when correctly oriented

Saved video has corrected orientation.

On Android

In Google Photos:

1. Open video
2. Tap Edit
3. Tap the crop/rotate icon
4. Rotate as needed
5. Tap Save copy

Some manufacturer galleries have similar rotate features in built-in editors.

On Mac: QuickTime Player

1. Open video in QuickTime Player
2. Edit menu → look for rotate options:
   • Rotate Left
   • Rotate Right
   • Flip Horizontal
   • Flip Vertical
3. File → Save to persist changes

Different macOS versions have rotation in slightly different menu locations; check Edit and View menus.

On Mac: iMovie

For more control:

1. Open iMovie
2. Create new movie, drag in video
3. Click video in timeline
4. Use rotation controls in the inspector
5. Export → choose quality

On Windows: Photos app

1. Open video in Photos app
2. Click Edit & Create → Edit
3. Use rotation controls
4. Save a copy

Desktop: HandBrake (free, cross-platform)

For technical control:

1. Open HandBrake
2. Add video
3. Filters tab → enable Rotate
4. Choose 90°, 180°, 270°
5. Set output filename
6. Click Start Encode

HandBrake re-encodes (slower but precise).

Desktop: FFmpeg (command-line)

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "transpose=1" output.mp4

transpose=1 rotates 90° clockwise. Other values: 0 (90° CCW), 2 (90° CCW flipped), 3 (90° CW flipped).

For 180° rotation:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "hflip,vflip" output.mp4

Fast and lossless when possible.

Rotation metadata vs actual rotation

Similar to image rotation: video orientation is sometimes stored as metadata (telling the player to rotate at playback) rather than baked into the actual video stream.

Metadata rotation:

• Original video data is in one orientation
• Metadata says “display rotated 90°”
• Most modern players respect this
• Some older or stripped-down players don’t

Actual rotation:

• The video pixel data itself is in the desired orientation
• Works in every player
• Larger files (re-encoded) unless using stream-copy with metadata trick

For maximum compatibility, baking rotation into the video data ensures it works everywhere.

Lossless rotation when possible

Some tools (FFmpeg with the -metadata:s:v rotate flag, certain video editors) can rotate by changing the rotation metadata without re-encoding the video stream. This is:

• Instant (no encoding time)
• Lossless (no quality reduction)
• Smaller (no new file generated)

Trade-off: relies on the metadata being respected.

For most uses: full re-encoding produces a video that works everywhere.

Common scenarios

Phone video recorded sideways: rotate to portrait or landscape.

Drone footage with gimbal error: rotate to level.

Video shot in selfie mode that’s mirrored: flip horizontal.

Footage from a camera mounted upside-down: rotate 180°.

After rotation

Trim if needed: see our Trim or Cut Video guide.

Compress for sharing: see our Compress Video guide.

Convert format: see our MOV to MP4 guide or MKV to MP4 guide.

Extract audio if needed: MP4 to MP3.

Avoiding rotation issues in the first place

When shooting video:

• Hold the phone in your dominant orientation: most phones default to landscape video; some apps default to portrait
• Watch the on-screen indicator to verify orientation
• Check after the first few seconds before continuing to record
• Lock orientation if needed (rotation lock prevents accidental orientation changes mid-record)

What gets preserved when rotating

Always preserved:

• All video content (just oriented differently)
• Audio
• Subtitles (if any)
• Other metadata

May change:

• File size (re-encoded versions can be slightly different)
• Frame rate (usually same)
• Codec (if re-encoding, output is in your chosen codec)

TL;DR

• iPhone: Photos → Edit → rotate icon
• Android: Google Photos → Edit → rotate
• Mac: QuickTime Player or iMovie
• Windows: Photos app
• Cross-platform free: HandBrake (GUI) or FFmpeg (command-line)
• For lossless rotation: FFmpeg with metadata change (if supported by player)
• For maximum compatibility: re-encode with baked-in rotation
• For follow-up operations: Trim, Compress, Convert format