How to Lock iPad Screen Orientation

Using Control Center

Make sure you're viewing your device's home screen. You will press the circular Home button below the iPad screen to do this. This ensures you can rotate the iPad screen without worrying about affecting the customizations of other applications.

Rotate iPad in the direction you prefer. You need to make sure the iPad body is rotated in the direction you want to use it and the display screen is also rotated in that direction.

The screen will rotate in two directions: Portrait is vertical and Landscape is horizontal.

Landscape mode is the most suitable choice when watching videos in full screen mode or composing documents, while Portrait mode is suitable for reading newspapers or surfing the web.

Swipe the screen from the bottom up. Place your finger right at the bottom edge of the screen, then swipe up. You will see the screen dim and some icons appear.

It may take you a few tries before you see the Control Center appear.

Tap the "Lock" icon. It's a black and white padlock icon with a circular arrow around it, usually displayed on the right side of the screen. Touching will cause the lock to turn red and the surrounding area white, indicating that screen rotation is locked.

Press the Home button to close Control Center. Now, your iPad screen is locked in your favorite orientation.

You can turn off screen rotation lock at any time by reopening Control Center and tapping the red and white "Lock" icon.

Some applications do not support screen rotation; For example, Minecraft PE is rotated in landscape orientation by default, while apps like Instagram for iPhone will only display in portrait orientation.

Use the side switch

Make sure your iPad has a side switch. Some older iPad models have switches on the body of the device. When you hold iPad vertically (the Home button is below the screen), you'll see the side switch on the upper left side of the iPad's body.

If you don't see the slider here, it means your iPad doesn't have a side switch and you need to use the Control Center.

Open your iPad's Settings. It's the app with the gray gear icon, usually found on the home screen.

Tap General on the left side of the Settings page. This opens a list of general settings options.

Tap the Lock Rotation option in the center of the screen, below the "USE SIDE SWITCH TO" heading.

Press the Home button to hide the Settings application.

Push the side switch. The switch must be pushed upward to lock screen rotation.

Rotate iPad in the direction you prefer. You need to make sure the iPad body is rotated in the direction you want to use it and the display screen is also rotated in that direction.

The screen will rotate in two directions: Portrait is vertical and Landscape is horizontal.

Landscape mode is the most suitable choice when watching videos in full screen mode or composing documents, while Portrait mode is suitable for reading newspapers or surfing the web.

Push the switch down. Once the screen has rotated to the direction you want, push the switch down to lock the screen rotation. You will see a closed padlock icon briefly appear on the screen.

You can change the screen orientation by pushing the switch upward.

Some applications do not support screen rotation; For example, Minecraft PE is rotated in landscape orientation by default, while apps like Instagram for iPhone will only display in portrait orientation.

Lesley Montoya

Update 22 May 2024