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How to rotate video on an iPhone or iPad quickly and easily

Simon Hill/Digital Trends

You just recorded a video of a memorable moment using your iPhone, but belatedly realize that it's in portrait mode rather than landscape. No worries. You can easily correct this digital faux pas right on your iPhone or iPad.

With Apple's Photos or iMovie apps for iOS, there are built-in ways to fix rotation issues. We show you how it's done in iOS 15.

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • iPhone

Use the Photos app

This is the quickest and easiest way to rotate videos and photos. Every iPhone includes the Photos app.

The Photos app has numerous tools that let you rotate video using a slider, add a horizontal or vertical tilt, or flip video horizontally.

Step 1: Open the Photos app, and tap on the video you wish to rotate.

iPhone Photos app all photos pane.

Step 2: Tap Edit in the top-right corner.

iPhone Photos app video Edit pane.

Step 3: Tap the Crop and straighten tool icon on the toolbar at the bottom.

iPhone Photos app video rotate control.

Step 4: Tap the Rotate tool located in the top-left corner — it resembles a box with a curved arrow. Tap the tool until the video rotates to the proper orientation.

iPhone Photos app video rotate pane.

Step 5: Tap Done to save your changes.

iPhone Photos app video rotate Done pane.

Use iMovie

This is a longer process for fixing video orientation. It’s the next-best method besides Photos and may come in handy if you want to do additional editing.

Step 1: Launch iMovie for iOS from your App Library.

iPhone App Library module.

Step 2: Tap Start new project > Movie.

iMovie for iPhone new movie pane.

Step 3: Tap Create movie.

iMovie for iPhone create movie pane.

Step 4: With your original movie at the top of the screen and in the timeline, tap the Plus sign (+) on the left, under the movie preview.

iMovie for iPhone preview pane.

Step 5: A video pane appears with your selected movie already highlighted.

iMovie for iPhone all movie pane.

Step 6: Tap to see a series of icons underneath the filmstrip and then tap the Plus sign (+) at the left.

iMovie for iPhone all movie pane.

Step 7: Use your thumb and forefinger on the movie preview up top for a rotate gesture. You will see an arrow onscreen indicating the direction of the rotation.

iMovvie rotate arrow.

Step 8: Tap Done at the upper left.

iMovie Done button.
Jackie Dove
Contributor
Jackie is an obsessive, insomniac tech writer and editor in northern California. A wildlife advocate, cat fan, and photo app…
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