How to Rotate Videos to 90 Degrees in iPhone / iPad

Recording videos on iPhone is easy and the result is mostly awesome, until you realize that you have captured a vertical video with large thick black sidebars! What happened? You followed the instructions correctly; the video is sharp but why do those black bars appear? Relax; you’ve just shot the video with your iPhone held vertically. With simple and easy steps, you can fix the video orientation by rotating the video horizontal, vertical or you can flip it upside down. Depending on your needs you can change the orientation of the video the way you want it to be.

This article will walk you through the options available.

iMovie to Rotate Video in iPhone/iPad

iMovie app has a built-in ability to rotate videos and it is bundled free with all iPhones purchased post September 2013. You can rotate a video clip to 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise. To return to the default view you can rotate the video to 360 degrees.

To rotate videos in iMovie:

1. If your iPhone doesn’t already have it, download iMovie from the App Store and install it.
2. Launch iMovie and tap Video tab. Now select the video that you want to rotate.
3. At the bottom of the screen, tap the share
4. On the resulting screen, select Create Movie.
5. With your thumb and forefinger, turn the video clockwise or counterclockwise, until you get the correct orientation.
6. Tap the share button and tap Save Video. You should save the video in a resolution that matches your original video’s quality- 360p, 540p, 720p, or 1080p.

After saving, the video with the new orientation will be  available in your Photo Library.

You can repeat the steps, as many times as necessary to achieve the orientation you want for all your other videos as well.

Video Rotate and Flip

Video Rotate and Flip is a free tool that you can use to rotate and flip a video. The app includes advertisements. For an ad-free app, you need to purchase it for $0.99.

The steps to rotate the video with the app are the same as iMovie but the options may vary depending on the device and the version that you are using.

Download the app from the Play Store and launch it:

1. Tap on the button at the top left corner.
2. Select the video that you want to rotate to a specific orientation. On some devices, the selected video is enclosed in a yellow border.
3. Tap on the Rotate button at the bottom left corner. Keep tapping until the video is in the desired orientation.
4. Tap the Export button at the top right corner to export the copy of the video with the correct orientation in the Photos app. While exporting the edited video, you will be prompted to choose the video compatibility. Ideally, videos should be compatible with all video players. It means the app will rotate each frame of the video. The alternate option is that the app will modify only the orientation flag. It means the video will be compatible with iOS and Quicktime but it may not be compatible with other video players.
5. After selecting the compatibility options, the Share screen will appear. Tap Save Video to save the changes made and to store the video in your iPhone or iCloud account, or share it via message, Facebook, and Email.

Video Rotate and Flip supports action extensions for iPhone and iPad. This option allows you to activate the extension in the Photos app and rotate the video from within the app.

To activate the extension in the Photos app:

1. From the Photos app, select the video to edit.
2. Tap the Edit icon (depicted by the three vertical dots) and then tap More, to activate the extension and to turn it on. You need to turn on the extension only for the first time.
3. Tap the extension and rotate the video to the desired orientation.
4. To save the changes made, tap Done.

You can also use Video Rotate and Flip to turn around the backwards text and front facing camera videos. You can choose the flip horizontal or vertical options to flip the video in any direction.

A handy recording tip

Reorient the camera and turn the iPhone or iPad sideways while recording the video. This will ensure that you do not end up with vertical videos!

Should you have any question on this topic, please feel free to ask in the comments section. We, at TechWelkin and our reader community will try to assist you. Thank you for using TechWelkin!