It's super convenient to be able to rotate your screen from portrait to landscape mode automatically, as well as lock it later when you need to. Luckily, both the iPhone's and iPad's screen rotation lock buttons are easy to access via the Control Panel. With the orientation lock enabled, you can keep your screen from adjusting regardless of whether the device is rotated vertically or horizontally. Let's go over how to adjust your iPad's and iPhone's auto-rotate settings!

Why You'll Love This Tip

Learn how to quickly access the Portrait Orientation lock to enable or disable automatic screen rotation.
Lock your screen's orientation as horizontal or vertical so you can read or watch videos on your devices in any position.

How To Lock & Unlock Screen Rotation on iPhone & iPad

System Requirements

This tip was performed on an iPhone 15 Pro running iOS 18.5. Find out how to update to the latest version of iOS.

What does "portrait orientation lock" mean? The Portrait Orientation Lock button is located in the Control Center. When it is on, your iPhone or iPad won’t automatically rotate. If you get annoyed when your iPhone or iPad screen flips and flops around every time you shift positions, this is the tip for you. If you like tips like this about how to use your Apple devices, be sure to sign up for our free Tip of the Day! So, where is the portrait orientation lock on your iPhone? Here's how to rotate the screen on your iPhone and iPad:

Note

Your Control Center will likely look different from the one in the screenshots below. I have customized the Control Center and rearranged the icons.

From the Home Screen of your iPhone, swipe down from the top right to access the Control Panel.
The Portrait Orientation Lock is the button with the round arrow with the lock inside. It will be gray when disabled. This means your iPhone will automatically rotate based on the way you are holding it.
To lock your screen orientation, tap the Portrait Orientation Lock. It will be white when enabled.

With your iPhone rotation lock enabled, your screen will no longer rotate when you turn your phone sideways unless you use an app that only has landscape mode. Using the iPhone orientation lock will prevent apps that offer both modes from auto-rotating. However, apps that are only available in landscape mode will not switch to portrait mode.

But what does the rotation lock button look like on my iPad? Well, the steps are essentially the same on the iPad. Just open your iPad's Control Center and look for the circular arrow icon.

If you find your iPhone stuck on landscape mode, try turning the lock on and off until it rotates again. If you keep experiencing problems, restarting your iPhone should help.