How to Rotate a Video (Free, Any Device)

To rotate a video, open it in your phone’s built-in editor — iOS Photos or Google Photos — and use the crop/rotate tool. It takes seconds and saves a permanently rotated copy. On desktop, use a free online editor like Clideo or Kapwing, or VLC’s transform filter.

Rotate on iPhone (fastest)

1. Open the video in Photos.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Tap the Crop & Rotate icon (bottom-right).
4. Tap the rotate button until it’s the right way up.
5. Tap Done → Save as New Clip (to keep the original).

iOS re-encodes the clip, so the rotation sticks everywhere — no more sideways videos in email or on a PC.

Rotate on Android

1. Open the video in Google Photos.
2. Tap Edit → Crop.
3. Tap Rotate until it’s correct.
4. Save copy.

Most Android manufacturers (Samsung, Xiaomi) have the same rotate option in their built-in gallery editor.

Rotate on Windows

Windows’ Photos app doesn’t reliably rotate video, so use one of these:

• Online: Clideo or Kapwing — upload, click rotate, download. Easiest for a one-off.
• VLC (already installed?): Tools → Effects and Filters → Video Effects → Geometry → Transform, then pick Rotate 90° or 180°, and save.
• HandBrake: open the video → Filters → Rotate, choose the angle, then encode. Best if you also want to compress the video.

Rotate on Mac

• QuickTime Player can’t rotate, but iMovie can: drag the clip onto the timeline, click the crop button, then rotate.
• Online: the same tools as Windows work in any browser.
• Terminal (advanced): FFmpeg can do it losslessly — ffmpeg -i in.mp4 -vf "transpose=1" out.mp4.

Rotating permanently vs. just changing playback

Some players let you rotate the view without changing the file — VLC’s transform filter does both, but if you only set it in the player, the file stays sideways everywhere else.

If you’ll send the video to anyone, rotate the file itself (phone editor, Clideo, or HandBrake). That’s the only way the fix travels with it.

Common problems

FAQ

How do I rotate a video on my iPhone?

Photos → Edit → Crop & Rotate → tap rotate → Done → Save as New Clip.

How do I rotate a video on Windows for free?

Use an online tool like Clideo or Kapwing, or VLC’s Tools → Effects and Filters → Geometry → Transform.

Does rotating a video reduce quality?

Rotating on its own doesn’t — but re-encoding does slightly, and it’s invisible at normal settings. Avoid repeated re-exports.

How do I permanently rotate a video file?

You must re-encode it: a phone editor, Clideo, or HandBrake all write a new, correctly-rotated file. Changing the view in a player doesn’t change the file.

Can I rotate a video without an app?

Yes — Clideo and Kapwing run entirely in the browser, free for short clips. See also how to crop a video on iPhone.