How to Rotate Videos in Windows 11

You just recorded an amazing video on your smartphone or camera, but you find out later that it’s in the wrong orientation. Don’t let that disappoint you — we’ll show you how to rotate a video on your Windows PC and change its orientation.

You can either use the built-in tools in your PC to rotate the video, or you can use VLC media player to do so. With the latter, you will also find an option to rotate the video to a custom orientation. Let’s begin with using Windows Media Player to rotate the video.

Also Read: How to Extract a High-Quality Image from Video on Android

How to Rotate a Video With Windows Media Player

Suppose you’ve downloaded a video or movie in the wrong orientation and wish to rotate it just for viewing purposes. In that case, you can do so straight from the Media Player app without editing and rendering the video. This saves you time and the resources on your computer.

Note: This does not permanently rotate the video. It only changes the orientation while you view it, and the video file retains the original settings.

Here’s how to rotate videos in the Media Player app on Windows 11.

Step 1: Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the video file you wish to rotate.

Step 2: Right-click on the video and hover your mouse over Open with.

Step 3: Select Media Player from the list of options.

Your video will now open in the Media Player app.

Step 4: Once the video is open, click on the three buttons in the bottom-right corner of the app to bring up additional settings.

Step 5: Hover your mouse over Video settings.

Step 6: Select Rotate video. The app will rotate your video by 90 degrees in the clockwise direction. You can click the Rotate video button until the desired rotation is obtained.

You can now playback the video in the Media Player app itself and it will appear in the rotated orientation. However, if you close the Media Player app and open the video again or open it in a different app, the video will default back to the original orientation.

But if you wish to rotate the video and save it in that particular orientation, you will have to edit the video and render it after the rotation. Here’s how to do it.

How to Rotate and Save a Video in Windows 11

Rotating the video every time you want to watch it can get annoying. Further, it’s also not ideal if you want to use the video for a presentation or edit it to merge it with other clips. Therefore, the best way to address this is to edit the video and change the rotation so that you can save it in that manner.

1. Use Video Editor in Windows 11

First, we’ll be using the default Video Editor in Windows 11 for this.

But if you don’t find the Video Editor app on your Windows 11 PC – move to the next section.

Step 1: Click on the Search icon in the taskbar in Windows 11 to bring up the search bar.

Step 2: Type in Video Editor and click on the resulting program.

Step 3: The Video Editor app will now open on your PC. Select the ‘New video project’ button.

Step 4: You will be asked to name your project. Enter a suitable name and click on OK.

Step 5: The project timeline will be visible to you. Click on the red Add button to import the desired video clip.

Step 6: Select ‘From this PC’ or ‘From the web’ depending on where the video is saved.

Step 7: Browse through your files and navigate to the location where the video to be rotated is saved.

Step 8: Select the video and click on Open.

Step 9: The selected video will be added to the project as you can see by the thumbnail in the left column.

Step 10: Drag the video from the Project library on the left down to the timeline at the bottom of the editor.

Step 11: Now, click on the video at the bottom and then select the Rotate button in the toolbar above.

The app will rotate your video by 90 degrees in the clockwise direction. Click on the rotate button again if you wish to rotate the video further.

Step 12: Once you’re satisfied with the rotation, click on the Finish video button in the top-right corner.

Step 13: Select the Video quality as High and click on Export.

Step 14: Choose the destination where you wish to save the video and select Export.

Wait for the export process to complete. The time taken to export the video will depend on the duration of the video as well as the processing power in your computer.

After the video is exported, you can play it via any media player of your choice and it will play in the saved orientation.

2. Use Microsoft Clipchamp to Edit and Rotate a Video: In Newer Versions of Windows 11

In the latest versions of Windows 11, the default Video Editor on Windows has been replaced by Microsoft Clipchamp. Clipchamp is a feature-rich video editing tool, and you can easily rotate a video and save a copy of the same.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Clipchamp from the Start menu. If you cannot find the app, you can install it from the link below.

Download Microsoft Clipchamp

Step 2: Click on ‘Create a new video’.

Step 3: Click on Import media. Select the video you want to rotate.

Step 4: Click on the rotate button. This will flip the video by a value of 90 degrees. You can repeat the process until you achieve the desired result.

Step 5: Once you rotate the video, click on Export. Select the export quality.

Step 6: Wait for the video to process. Once it is complete, click on ‘Save to your computer’. Select the destination folder to save the video.

3. Use VLC Media Player to Edit and Save a Copy of Rotated Video

You can also use VLC media player to rotate and save the video. However, with VLC media player, you can also rotate the video in values other than multiples of 90 degrees.

Also Read: How to Take Snapshots in VLC on Windows and Mac

Step 1: Open the video in VLC media player. Click on Tools -> ‘Effects and Filters’ in the toolbar.

Step 2: Click on Video Effects, and go to the Geometry tab.

Step 3: If you want to rotate the video by multiples of 90 degrees, check the box for Transform, click on ‘Rotate by 90 degrees’, and select your desired option.

Step 4: However, if you want to rotate your video by a custom angle value, uncheck Transform, check Rotate, and rotate the dial to a custom angle value.

Make sure to check the preview of the rotated video in the background.

Step 5: Click on Save once the changes are made.

Now, you will have to enable a few options that’ll help you export the video while retaining the transformation (video rotation) settings. However, you will only have to do this the very first time you are rotating and exporting a video on VLC.

Step 6: Click on Tools -> Preferences.

Step 7: Check the box for ‘All’ to view the Advanced settings panel in VLC media player.

Step 8: Now select Stream Output -> Sout stream -> Transcode.

Step 9: Check the box for ‘Video transformation filter’ and click on Save.

Step 10: Click on Media in the toolbar, and select Convert/Save.

Step 11: Click on Add, and select the video you’ve just rotated from the file explorer.

However, this seems quite redundant given the video is already open. But that’s just how VLC works.

Step 12: Once you’ve selected the video, click on the dropdown menu on Convert/Save.

Step 13: Now, click on Convert.

Step 14: Click on Browse to select the folder where you want to save the rotated video.

Step 15: Once you select the destination folder, tap on Start. This will start the conversion, and save the video.

Also Read: How to Rotate Videos on iPhone

Rotate Videos With a Few Clicks

We hope this article helps you rotate videos on your Windows PC. The next time you’re disappointed that you shot the video in the wrong orientation – don’t worry. You can always come back to this guide, and change the orientation of the video with ease!