The accelerometer on your Android phone can detect your phone’s orientation and rotate the screen to landscape or portrait mode. But sometimes Auto-Rotate on Android can stop working. Often, this option is simply disabled. In other instances, it can be caused by the phone’s firmware, a faulty sensor, or a third-party app conflict.
Here we show you some easy solutions to get auto-rotate working on your Android phone.
1. Turn on Auto-Rotate
Your Android phone comes with a built-in auto-rotate feature. It can be accessed from the quick settings panel to enable or disable automatic rotation. You can toggle the switch to enable or disable rotation, or lock your display to a specific orientation.
Check if you or someone else has messed with the settings, and if necessary, turn on the auto-rotate feature on your phone.
To activate Auto-Rotate on Android:
- Swipe down from the top of the screen to view Quick settings Panel.
- Here, find and tap on Auto rotate icon. It looks different depending on which phone you’re using—on Samsung phones it’s a lock icon that reads portrait or scenarioDepends on your current screen orientation.
- When activated, your Android Auto-Rotate should start working immediately.
2. Restart
Another most common solution to auto-rotate recovery on your Android phone is by restarting. A quick restart can fix any temporary glitches preventing one or more system functions from working.
To restart your phone, press and hold strength Tank. Next, tap Start again And again at Start again. Although auto-rotation may start working after a restart, the problem may crop up again, requiring multiple restarts.
3. Check for app-specific issues and third-party app conflicts
Sometimes, Auto-Rotate may stop working for a particular app. For example, the YouTube app for Android has problems detecting phone orientation.
The widespread bug will likely be fixed in new updates. However, if updating the app doesn’t help, try this solution. When opening a YouTube video, swipe up to switch to full-screen mode and swipe down to restore portrait mode. This is a helpful tip for the YouTube app if auto-rotate works otherwise.
Additionally, if you’ve recently installed a bunch of apps, check to see if there’s an app conflict. Some apps may conflict with your phone’s settings, such as auto-rotate. Try uninstalling the most recently installed apps and restarting your phone to see if the problem is resolved. Also, check if you have disabled auto-rotate for individual apps.
4. Don’t touch your screen while rotating
Android lets you temporarily disable auto-rotation with a long press on your display. For example, if you need to change phone orientation without triggering auto-rotate, press and hold the display and then rotate.
This is a common occurrence when using a web browser. Make sure not to touch your display while rotating your phone, and auto-rotate will kick in.
5. Use a third-party rotation control app
A rotation control app for devices with partially working displays. This is useful if the top part of the mobile display is not working and you cannot access quick settings. You can use these apps as an alternative to the auto-rotate feature on Android.
Control Screen Rotation is a popular rotation control app on Android with over five million downloads. It lets you change screen orientation automatically based on sensor orientation or manually. It also includes a useful overlay feature to change the screen orientation from the notification panel.
The application is easy enough to use. Open the app and tap Start the service. Set Select the screen orientation who Sensor orientationAnd then, to activate the overlay, toggle on the switch Add a button to the notification to stop the service.
It also supports reverse landscape and portrait orientation, and if you upgrade to the Pro version, you can add an auto-rotate tile in the Quick Settings panel and remove ads.
Download: Control screen rotation (Free, in-app purchases available)
6. Do a factory reset
If you don’t want to use a third-party app, even though it’s the best solution, a factory reset might be your last option. A factory reset will wipe your Android device and restore it to its factory state.
There are three ways to factory reset Android. Regardless of the method you choose, make sure to create a data backup because you cannot recover deleted data on Android after a factory reset.
Fixes when auto rotate stops working
Auto-rotate feature on Android may stop working if disabled in quick settings. Other times, it can be an app-specific issue or caused by a third-party app conflict. If the problem persists, the Rotation Control app should help restore auto-rotate functionality until you find a permanent resolution.
