Screen Upside Down or Sideways on Windows 11 How to Fix It

Screen Upside Down or Sideways on Windows 11: How to Fix It

A screen that suddenly turns upside down or sideways looks alarming, but nothing is broken. Windows is simply showing the picture in a different orientation. It takes under a minute to put it back.

Tip: while the screen is rotated, the mouse moves in the "wrong" direction too. Move slowly, and watch where the pointer goes.

Fix 1: Change Display Orientation in Settings

This works on every Windows 11 PC.

1. Right-click an empty part of the desktop and choose Display settings. (Or press Windows key + I and go to System > Display.)
2. If you have more than one screen, select the rotated one in the picture at the top.
3. Under Scale & layout, find Display orientation.
4. Choose Landscape (the normal setting for laptops and most monitors).
5. Windows asks whether to keep the change. Select Keep changes. If you do nothing, it switches back after a few seconds - useful if you picked the wrong option.

The four choices are Landscape, Portrait, Landscape (flipped) (upside down) and Portrait (flipped).

Fix 2: Try the Keyboard Shortcut (Some PCs Only)

On some computers - mostly those with older Intel graphics drivers - these shortcuts rotate the screen:

• Ctrl + Alt + Up arrow - normal (landscape),
• Ctrl + Alt + Down arrow - upside down,
• Ctrl + Alt + Left / Right arrow - sideways.

These come from the graphics driver, not Windows, so on many PCs they do nothing. If your screen flipped while you were typing, this is often how it happened - pressing Ctrl + Alt + Up arrow may put it right. If it doesn't, use Fix 1.

Some graphics control panels (Intel Graphics Command Center, for example) let you turn these hotkeys off so it can't happen again. The option's name and place depend on the driver version.

Fix 3: Stop Auto-Rotation on a 2-in-1 or Tablet

Convertible laptops and tablets have a sensor that rotates the screen when you turn the device. If it keeps rotating when you don't want it to:

1. Open Quick Settings (select the network, sound or battery icon at the right of the taskbar, or press Windows key + A).
2. Select Rotation lock so it's on.

You can also turn on Rotation lock in Settings > System > Display. The option only shows on devices that have a rotation sensor, and on some devices it's greyed out while a keyboard is attached in laptop mode.

If the screen is stuck in the wrong orientation on a 2-in-1, turn rotation lock off, hold the device the right way up, wait for it to rotate, and then lock it again.

Fix 4: A Second Monitor Is Rotated

With two or more screens, each has its own orientation.

1. Go to Settings > System > Display.
2. Select Identify to see which number belongs to which screen.
3. Select the rotated screen and set its Display orientation.

If you use a monitor on a stand that turns to portrait, choose Portrait to match - Microsoft notes that when you change a monitor's orientation, you also need to physically rotate the screen. More multi-screen problems: second monitor not detected in Windows 11.

The Orientation Setting Is Missing or Greyed Out

If Display orientation is missing, can't be changed or goes back after a restart:

1. Restart the PC - it clears a stuck display state.
2. Update the display driver: go to Settings > Windows Update, and check Advanced options > Optional updates for a display driver, or get the driver from your PC or graphics card maker. See how to update drivers in Windows 11 the safe way.
3. Open Device Manager (right-click Start). Under Display adapters, if you see only Microsoft Basic Display Adapter, Windows isn't using the real graphics driver, and some display options are limited until you install it.
4. Check the graphics card's own control panel (Intel, AMD or NVIDIA). A rotation set there can override Windows.

Still Not Fixed?

• If the picture on an external monitor is upside down but Windows says Landscape, check the monitor's own on-screen menu - a few monitors have an image-flip option.
• If the whole screen looks distorted, stretched or blurry rather than rotated, the resolution is probably wrong: in Settings > System > Display, set Display resolution to the value marked (Recommended).

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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See Also:windows 11 display