How to Rotate a Video 90 or 180 Degrees (and Flip It)

To rotate a video, open the free Rotate Video tool, drop in your video, press Left or Right until it's the right way up, and press Export. You can also mirror it (left to right) or flip it upside down. The new MP4 plays the right way on every phone, computer and app. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there's no watermark.

Why do videos end up sideways?

Phones don't actually rotate the pixels when you record. They save the video in the sensor's orientation and add a small "rotate this" note to the file. Most modern apps read that note, but some players, older TVs, editing apps and websites ignore it, so the video shows up sideways. Phones can also guess wrong if you start recording while lying down or pointing at a table.

Rotating with this tool changes the pixels themselves, so the video is upright everywhere, whatever the player does.

How do I rotate a video step by step?

1. Add the video. Open Rotate Video and drag in an MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV file, or click to choose. The Rotate tab opens first.
2. Rotate. Press Left or Right to turn the picture 90° at a time. Press twice for 180°.
3. Mirror or flip (optional). Mirror swaps left and right, which fixes reversed writing in front-camera videos. Flip upside down turns it top to bottom.
4. Check the preview. The preview shows the rotation before you export.
5. Export. Choose the quality in Export settings (High keeps the most detail), press Export, then Download.

Rotate, mirror or flip: which do I need?

Problem	Fix
Video lies on its side	Left or Right (90°)
Video is upside down	Left twice or Right twice (180°)
Text and logos are backwards (selfie camera)	Mirror
Filmed through a mirror or upside down in a mount	Flip upside down, or Mirror plus 180°

Does rotating reduce quality?

Unlike a simple trim, rotating means every frame is re-encoded. At the High (bigger file) quality setting, the difference is very hard to see. If you also want a smaller file, choose Balanced and 720p; see how to compress video for WhatsApp and email for the trade-offs.

Can I rotate and do other edits at once?

Yes. Rotate is one tab of the full Video Editor. Rotate first, then use Crop (for example to 9:16 for TikTok), Trim, or Speed & sound, and export once so the video is only re-encoded one time. The crop box is placed on the original frame, and the rotation preview is hidden while the Crop tab is open, so set the crop and then check the Rotate tab.

Tips

• Rotate before posting. Some platforms reject or letterbox sideways videos.
• Fix a whole batch? Rotate one video at a time; each export takes about as long as the video's length or less on a laptop.
• Don't need the sound? Press Mute in Speed & sound to drop it at the same time.

Is it private and free?

Yes. FFmpeg runs inside your browser, so your video never leaves your device. There's no account, watermark or limit.

Troubleshooting

• The preview is black. Your browser may not preview that codec; export usually still works.
• It's slow on a phone. Rotating re-encodes the whole video. Use a computer for long clips, or trim first.
• It's still sideways in one app. Make sure you're sharing the new downloaded file, not the original.

Rotate your video now, or see everything in how to edit videos in your browser.