What to Do If Your Screen Display is Rotated: Windows & Mac

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A quick guide to fixing a screen that's gone sideways by itself

Co-authored by Darlene Antonelli, MA Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: August 1, 2025 Fact Checked

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Windows

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Mac

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Q&A

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Tips

Is the screen on your laptop display or monitor rotated or flipped? You can easily fix it using a keyboard shortcut or in Settings. Keep reading to learn how to troubleshoot and fix a rotated screen on your Windows or Mac computer.

Quickly Fix a Rotated Screen

On Windows, press Ctrl + Alt + ↑ or any directional arrow.
On Windows, go to "Display settings" (right-click an empty space on your desktop) and change the drop-down next to Orientation.
On a Mac desktop or MacBook, click the Apple menu, hold the Opt key as you go to System Settings > Display, and change the rotation.

Section 1 of 2:

Windows

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1
If your device has a rotation sensor, physically rotate it. If you're using a monitor, tablet, laptop, or a 2-in-1 PC with a rotatable screen, you can rotate your device to fix the issue.
- If rotating the screen doesn't work on your rotatable device, check that the rotation lock is not enabled by opening the Action Center, which is in your taskbar in the far right corner. If rotation lock is enabled, you'll see a lock icon. Click it to unlock it.
- If you do not see the rotation lock in the Action Center, then try reconnecting the USB cable (not HDMI or VGA) for your monitor. This should fix the rotation sensor.
2
Press Ctrl+Alt and a direction key to rotate the screen. Some graphics cards assign the hotkey Ctrl + Alt + ↓ to flip the screen upside down. To reverse this, press Ctrl + Alt + ↑. Use the same key combination with ← or → to reverse a screen flipped right or left.
- Some graphics cards use ⇧ Shift + Alt + ↑ instead.^{[1]
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- You may need to use the Alt key to the right of the spacebar, sometimes labeled AltGr.^{[2]
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Fix a rotated screen in your display settings. Computers running modern versions of Windows (including Windows 10 and 11) have an option to switch between portrait and landscape mode. Fix this as follows:^{[3]
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- Right-click your desktop.
- In the drop-down menu, select Display settings (Windows 10 or 11) or Screen Resolution (Windows 7 or 8).
  - Alternatively, go to Start → Control Panel → Display, then select Display settings or Screen Resolution.
- Click the Orientation drop-down menu and change it to Portrait or Landscape, depending on your monitor setup.
- Click Apply to rotate your screen back to normal.
If nothing else works, you may need to access your graphics card settings. Depending on which card you have, you may find this under Graphics Options, Graphics Properties, Nvidia Control Panel, Catalyst Control Center, or Intel Control Center. You can either locate this using the search bar or (usually) right-click your Desktop and select it from the drop-down menu.
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Change the rotation setting. There is no standard menu arrangement in graphics card menus, so you may need to search a little. On some graphics cards, the "Rotation" or "Orientation" setting is in the Displays Manager menu.
- You may need to select "advanced options" to find this setting.
- If you're not sure why your screen rotated, you may have accidentally pressed a keyboard shortcut. Look for a Hotkeys menu item and disable it.

Section 2 of 2:

Mac

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It's the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen, and it will drop down more options.
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Press and hold the ⌥ Option key. Continue holding this key down as you perform the next two steps.
- If you are using a Windows keyboard with your Mac, hold down Ctrl + Alt instead.
3
Click System Settings as you continue holding down the ⌥ Option key. This action will allow you to see additional settings.
- If System Settings was already open, you should close it first. To fully exit the menu, click the Apple menu and select Quit System Settings. Then, return to the Apple menu, hold down the option key, and click System Settings once more.
4
Click Display as you continue holding down the ⌥ Option. Once the Display settings are open, you can release the option key. You will now see some rotation settings that would not have appeared had you not been holding down the option key.
- If you have multiple displays, select the problem monitor in the list of options before you continue.
5
Change the rotation settings. Select Standard from the Rotation drop-down menu to return to the default display.^{[4]
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- If no Rotation option appears, your hardware does not support Apple's built-in rotation settings. Check your Applications folder for third-party software that may have rotated your screen.

Community Q&A

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Question

How to fix the rotation on my iPhone 6?

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If there's an icon of a padlock encircled by an arrow on your status bar, Orientation Lock is on. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Control Center, then tap that same icon to turn it off. The Display Zoom setting can also prevent your home screen from rotating; turn it off at Settings → Display & Brightness → View.

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How do I turn on the flip screen?

Soul Pindar

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Minimize all open programs by pressing Windows key + D. Right-click any blank spot on the desktop. In the drop-down menu that appears, click Graphics Options, and then Graphics Properties. In the window that opens, select the Rotation tab. Choose your desired settings, click Apply, and then OK.

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How do I rotate the screen on my computer?

Rudy Toth

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On the right side of your menu bar, there is an arrow pointing upwards on the Windows 10 version. Clicking on that opens a small dialog box. There should be a blue box in the upper left hand corner that might say "Intel HD Graphics". There you can rotate your screen by using the mouse on a angle.

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Tips

Windows: If pressing Ctrl + Alt + an arrow key does nothing, that might be because of disabled hotkeys in your graphics settings, outdated drivers, or your system not supporting the feature. Try updating your graphics drivers or using Windows Display Settings instead.

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