Rotate Video
Processed locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Quick answer
To rotate a video, you turn the picture 90°, 180° or 270° to fix footage shot sideways or upside down — the classic phone-held-wrong problem. This tool does it in your browser with ffmpeg.wasm and uploads nothing. It can either flip a rotation flag instantly or re-encode the frames so every player shows it upright. A one-time ~10 MB engine loads on first use; short clips work best.
How to rotate video
Load your video
Drop the sideways clip in. On first use the ~10 MB engine downloads and caches; afterwards it is instant.
Choose the rotation
Pick 90° clockwise, 90° anticlockwise (270°) or 180° to turn the frame the right way up. A preview shows the result before you commit.
Rotate and download
Export the corrected video. A metadata flip is instant; a full re-encode takes a single-threaded while on longer clips.
Why does phone footage come out sideways?
Phones record the sensor in a fixed orientation and store a rotation flag in the file telling the player how to turn it. Modern apps read that flag and rotate on playback, so the clip looks right. But older players, some editors and many web pipelines ignore the flag — so the exact same file that looks upright on your phone shows up on its side on a laptop. Rotating the video bakes the correction in so it no longer depends on any player reading the flag.
Metadata flag or re-encode — which should you use?
There are two ways to rotate, and they behave very differently:
| Metadata rotation | Re-encode | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Changes the rotation flag only | Actually turns every pixel |
| Speed | Instant | Slow (single-threaded here) |
| Quality | Untouched | Slight encode loss |
| Plays upright everywhere? | Only where the flag is read | Yes, in every player |
The rule of thumb: use the instant metadata flip when you just need it right for a player you know respects the flag, and choose the re-encode when the video must be genuinely upright everywhere — before importing into an editor, uploading to a platform, or handing it to someone else.
Which direction do you need?
- 90° clockwise — for a clip lying on its left side (top of the scene points left).
- 90° anticlockwise (270°) — for a clip lying on its right side.
- 180° — for upside-down footage, common with some mounts and gimbals.
If you are not sure, try one and check the preview — the wrong direction is obvious immediately, and you can rotate again the other way.
What are the browser limits?
A metadata rotation is trivial and near-instant even on large files, since it only rewrites a flag. A re-encode, on the other hand, runs at the usual single-threaded WebAssembly pace and is memory-bound on very large inputs — so keep re-encoded rotations to short clips. The workbench warns you if a file looks too big and always offers cancel.
Is my video uploaded to rotate it?
No. Both the metadata flip and the re-encode run in your browser via ffmpeg.wasm; the file is processed in memory and returned as a download, never uploaded. Confirm it in DevTools → Network — no request is made — and note it works offline once loaded. Your footage stays on your device.
Related video and subtitle tools
Once it is upright, crop it to the right aspect ratio for where it is going, or compress it for upload. Joining several corrected clips? Merge them. And before you publish, add subtitles, converting your caption file first with the subtitle converter if needed.
Your files never leave your device
Processed locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded. You can verify it yourself: open your browser’s developer tools, watch the Network tab, and use the tool — no upload request is ever made.
Frequently asked questions
How do I fix a video that plays sideways on my computer but not my phone?
Your phone reads the rotation flag and your computer ignores it. Re-encode the rotation so the pixels are physically turned upright — then it plays correctly everywhere, regardless of the flag.
What is the difference between metadata rotation and re-encoding?
Metadata rotation just changes a flag telling players how to turn the video — instant and lossless, but only works where the flag is read. Re-encoding actually rotates every pixel, so it plays upright in every player, at the cost of a slower, slightly lossy pass.
How do I rotate a video 90 degrees?
Choose 90° clockwise or 90° anticlockwise depending on which side the clip is lying on, preview to confirm, then export. If you pick the wrong way, just rotate again in the other direction.
Will rotating reduce the quality?
A metadata rotation does not touch quality at all. A re-encode adds the small loss any encode does; keep the CRF low if you want that minimal.
Why does my video still look sideways after rotating?
You likely used a metadata flip on a player that ignores the flag. Use the re-encode option to physically turn the pixels so no player can get it wrong.
Can I rotate a large video quickly?
A metadata rotation is instant even on big files. A re-encode is slow and memory-bound on the single-threaded engine, so keep those to short clips.
Is rotation done privately?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser through ffmpeg.wasm with no upload. Check the Network tab of your developer tools to confirm nothing is sent.