How to rotate a laptop or PC screen using your keyboard

How to rotate a laptop or PC screen using your keyboard

If you’re running Windows 7 or 8, you may be able to quickly rotate your screen 90°, 180° or 270° at any time by pressing three keys.

Simply hold down Control + Alt and then select the arrow key for which way you want your laptop or PC screen to face.

Your monitor will then go briefly go blank and will return in a few seconds facing a different orientation. To restore this back to the traditional settings, press Control + Alt + the up arrow.

If this doesn't work, you'll need to use one of the methods below.

How to rotate a laptop or PC screen via Control Panel

Step one

Another way to rotate your screen is to right click the Windows desktop and select Screen Resolution from the dropdown menu that appears. Changing the screen orientation via Control Panel is equally simple. Press the Windows key and type in "Screen Resolution" then press enter.

Alternatively, if you're using Windows 7, you can click Start > Control Panel > Display > Screen Resolution.

Step two

From here select the monitor that you wish to rotate from the Display drop-down box and then finally select Portrait or Landscape in the Orientation field.

How to rotate a laptop or PC screen using Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel

You can also rotate a display using your graphics card’s control panel. (Note that there are too many different software suites to list the each one individually, so treat this as a general guide.)

A shortcut to your graphics control panel can be found in a couple of places. Right-clicking the desktop and selecting the appropriate option will give you access to the Intel, Nvidia or AMD graphics card control panels, but the graphics drivers and software often add icons to the system tray on the right-hand side of your taskbar. Double-clicking these icons, or right-clicking thereon, will normally give access to the control panel, and also often a wide range of other options, too. Handily, some also permit you to right click their respective icons and select screen rotation from a dropdown menu.

Once the relevant control panels are open, you'll need to peruse the 'display' or 'desktop' menus to find the rotation option for your monitor. The exact location varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, so a quick hunt around will soon locate the option you need.