After taking a video on your phone, you may need to use your computer to edit, modify, or post it. Our phones are very advanced these days, but despite their capabilities, some tasks require a computer. It’s annoying when videos appear upside down or sideways on a laptop or computer. Knowing how to rotate a video is essential for both professional and casual creators to achieve polished results. In this post, we explore ways on rotating videos on Windows to the desired orientation.
Rotate a video on Windows
You can use VLC to rotate videos. VLC, or VideoLAN client, is a free, open-source, cross-platform media player software developed by the VideoLAN project. It also functions as a streaming media server. VLC does not come pre-installed, so you’ll have to download it. Fortunately, it’s a low-weight download, so it doesn’t require a lot of data/bandwidth, and it’s free on every platform!
Using VLC
Below are the steps to use VLC:
- First, download and install VLC from the VLC website.
- Once you’re in VLC, open the file you want to rotate.
- Go to Media, then to Open Files to find the desired file.
- Then navigate to Tools, and click Effects and Filters from the drop-down menu.
- This will bring you to the Adjustments and Effects window.
- In the Adjustments and Effects window, click on the Video Effects tab.
- Once in the Video Effects tab, click on the Geometry Tab
- This will open more options, including a Transform checkbox. Select it.
- Checking the Transform box opens another drop-down menu, where you’ll select the Rotation option.
- You can choose the rotation angle (90, 180, or 270 degrees). Then, to apply the changes, click Close.
- Finally, save the video after orienting it to your liking; Go to Tools, then Preferences.
- At the bottom of Preferences, enable all settings. Then go down to Sout Stream under Stream Output.” Then click Transcode.
- Choose the Video transformation filter option and click Save.
Using Clipchamp
Another option for rotating videos is to use Windows Clipchamp. Clipchamp, included in Windows 11, replaced Windows Movie Maker, which was discontinued. Follow the steps outlined below to rotate a video using this new feature:
- Log in to your Clipchamp account and create a new project.
- Upload the video you want to rotate.
- Drag and drop the video into the timeline.
- Select the video clip in the timeline.
- Choose the desired rotation angle (90°, 180°, 270°, or Custom).
- Rotating your video to a custom angle offers more editing flexibility and precision.
- Preview the rotated video.
- Export the rotated video in your preferred format.
Using Windows Photo app
Lastly, there is one final way to rotate videos on Windows without the use of any software designed specifically for video editing, in case you’re using Windows 8.
- At the top of the toolbar, click Video Editor and cancel the Clipchamp editor.
- Click on New Video Project.
- Drag the video to the storyboard at the bottom.
- Click on the Rotate icon on the far right of the editing options above the storyboard.
- Finally, click on Finish Video to export the video after specifying its quality.
Rotating a video can seem like an unavoidable task, especially when you’re working with footage that’s been captured in the wrong orientation. Fortunately, there are several solutions available that can help you rotate your videos with ease. By using VLC or Windows Clipchamp, you can quickly and easily rotate your videos to the desired angle, saving you time and effort in the editing process.