Screen auto-rotation is a common feature in Windows 8. It allows you to rotate the screen so that different parts of the screen are always facing in the same direction. This can be helpful when you’re working on a computer with a large monitor or when you want to watch a video or play a game in an orientation that’s different from your normal view. But sometimes, screen auto-rotation can be annoying. For example, if you have an iPad that uses portrait mode, and your computer is in landscape mode, the iPad will automatically rotate to portrait mode when you open the Start Screen. This can make it difficult to use your iPad as an input device for tasks like browsing the web or playing games. To disable screen auto-rotation in Windows 8, follow these steps:
- Open Settings and click on the General tab.
- Under “Screen” tab, select “Auto Rotate.”
- Click on the “Disable” button and confirm your selection.
Windows 8 is strongly aimed at tablets, most of which allow use in both landscape and portrait orientations. Depending on your personal preference, you may wish to disable this auto-rotating behavior. Here’s how to do it.
Note: While testing out devices we noticed that the setting to disable screen rotation isn’t available on all devices, so we have provided a way to disable it in the registry as well.
Disable it Using the Brightness Slider
If you open up the Charms Bar’s Settings option or use the WIN + I keyboard shortcut, you can use the Brightness control to lock the screen.
It’s worth noting that we’ve seen some instances where the auto-rotate button didn’t appear here when it should.
Disable it Using the Keyboard
It couldn’t get much simpler than this – if you are using a device with a keyboard attached, you can simply use the WIN + O (the letter, not zero) to toggle Auto-Rotation on or off. Obviously this isn’t going to work on a tablet unless you have a keyboard attached, and we’re not certain it works on all devices.
Disable it Using the GUI
Right click on your Desktop and select the Screen resolution option from the context menu.
When the Control Panel applet loads, uncheck the Allow the screen to auto-rotate checkbox.
Then click OK.
Disable Using the Tablet Button (if available)
Some tablets have a button that allows you to quickly disable the auto-rotate function. You’ll need to check your manual to see if one of the buttons is meant for that function.
Disable it Using the Registry
Alternatively you could disable it using the registry. To do so, press the Win + R keyboard combination to open a run box, then type regedit and hit enter.
When the Registry Editor opens, navigate down to:
On the right hand side you will see a value called Enable, right click on it and select modify from the context menu.
If your device currently has rotation enabled it will be set to 1. To disable it, change it to 0 then click OK.
That’s all there is to it.
