How to fix a sideways or upside-down photo
- Add the photos that show the wrong way round on a website, form or printer.
- Look at the previews: they show how each saved photo will look. Photos from phones are turned upright automatically using their rotation tag.
- Turn any that are still wrong with ↺ / ↻ (90°) or mirror them with ⇋, then download.
Why photos turn sideways after uploading
A phone camera always stores the picture the way its sensor is mounted, usually landscape. When you hold the phone upright it adds a note, the EXIF Orientation tag, saying “turn this 90° when showing it”. Your gallery, and most modern browsers, follow the note. Many upload forms, content management systems, printers, older Windows programs and some apps ignore it, or strip the tag but keep the sideways pixels, so the photo appears turned.
| Tag | Meaning | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upright | Nowhere |
| 6 | Turn 90° clockwise (phone held upright) | Shows lying on its left side |
| 8 | Turn 90° anticlockwise | Shows lying on its right side |
| 3 | Turn 180° (phone upside down) | Shows upside down |
| 2, 4, 5, 7 | Mirrored versions (some front cameras) | Mirrored and/or turned |
What the tool does
- Turns the pixels so the photo is stored upright and saves it without a rotation tag: there is nothing left to misread.
- Lossless when possible: if the pixels are already the right way and only the tag is wrong, just the tag is reset; the picture isn’t re-saved.
- DPI kept on JPG photos, so print sizes don’t change.
Re-saved photos don’t carry over metadata such as the location. To remove the location from photos without turning them, use remove location from photo.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my photo upload sideways?
Phones save the picture in the direction the sensor faces and add a rotation tag (EXIF Orientation) saying how to turn it. Your phone and most browsers read the tag, but some websites, forms, printers and older programs don’t, so the photo appears sideways or upside down.
How does this fix it?
It turns the picture itself to the upright position and saves it without a rotation tag, so there is nothing left for other software to misread.
Does it reduce quality?
JPG photos that need turning are saved again at 95% quality, which is visually identical. If only the tag is wrong, the tag is reset without re-saving. PNG photos are saved losslessly.
Can I rotate photos myself too?
Yes. Use ↺ and ↻ to turn by 90° and ⇋ to mirror (useful for selfies). The preview shows exactly how the saved photo will look.
Are my photos uploaded?
No. Everything happens in your browser, so your photos never leave your device.
Last updated 2026-10-24.