How to rotate video in VLC

VLC Media Player is the top of the class in multi-format media playing, No matter what format you’re dealing with, the program is probably your answer. While VLC does the bulk of the heavy lifting for you, once in a while you’ll still get the odd video that’s playing upside-down or rotated weirdly. Never fear; we’ll show you how to spin it right!

Videos in VLC can be rotated, flipped and even transposed (which means rotate and flip simultaneously). VLC even has a neat tool that helps you rotate your video arbitrarily; you’re never locked into specific rotate coordinates. Best part? It’s right in your top toolbar, takes three easy steps, and can be done in seconds.

How to rotate and flip your video

1. Open Adjustments and Effects

Click on the Tools tab on the top left of VLC. The top choice in the drop-down will be Effects and Filters. Click on that and it’ll open the window you need. Alternatively, you can just press CTRL + E when you’re in VLC.

2. Open the Geometry tab

This window has a bunch of compressing tools, advanced options, and sliders that you can play with, but the rotating tool you need is nested under the Video Effects tab. Click on it, then open Geometry.

3. Choose how you want to rotate

Now for the easy part. Check the box that says Transform, and you’ll unlock a drop-down that has seven different rotation options. Select the one you need and hit Save. When you open a new video, it will be rotated accordingly. If you want to disable the rotation, simply un-check the box.

Other options

“Rotate by 90 degrees” is straightforward enough, but there are other options you can select via the Transform drop-down. ‘Transpose’ will rotate your video 270 degrees clockwise, and then also flips it horizontally. ‘Anti-transpose’ does the same, but rotates by 90 degrees before the horizontal flip.

Lastly, you can also elect to rotate your video by smaller margins rather than locking in to a specific degree. To do this, check the Rotate box and move the Angle dial around to wherever you like.

Pretty easy, right? Let us know in the comments below if you got the video figured out, and if there are any other VLC tips and tricks you’d like us to share.

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