Auto Rotate Not Working on Android? Here’s How to Fix it

The auto-rotate feature switches screens between portrait and landscape by reading the screen orientation. With this feature turned on, rotating the phone is enough to make it work.

But, at times, even tilting and turning your phone to a full 360 degree won’t help.

If you have been struggling to get your Android phone to rotate, this article will help you get this feature come back to life.

Why Is Auto Rotate Not Working on Android?

How to Fix Auto Rotate Not Working on Android?

Ensure you have turned on the auto-rotate feature. Without this, it’s next to impossible to get your phone to rotate. Likewise, restart your phone because it can quickly clear temporary glitches and bugs.

Once you rule these out, work your way down to other fixes mentioned in this article.

Enable Auto-Rotate Feature

If the auto-rotate feature is not enabled, just rotating your android phone sideways won’t work. Enabling auto-rotate feature has to be turned on. You can quickly access the notification panel or go to settings to do that.

Here are the steps to turn on the auto-rotate feature on Android.

1. From your home screen, drag the notification bar down.
2. Look for the auto-rotate feature.
3. Once located, tap the auto-rotate feature to turn it on.
   

Alternatively, you can follow these steps:

1. Launch Settings.
2. Tap Display.
3. Scroll down to the Auto-rotate screen. Slide the toggle button to the right to enable it.
   

Clear App Cache

Cache built up from third-party apps can obstruct your phone from operating efficiently. This may negatively affect the auto-rotate feature. As a result, you get a phone that won’t rotate in the direction of your hand motions.

Follow these steps to clear the app cache. 

1. Navigate to Settings.
2. Scroll down to Apps. Then, tap it.
3. From the Apps menu, locate the apps you’ve recently installed.
4. Now, select the App.
5. Select Storage usage or Storage.
6. Under Cache, tap Clear cache.
   

Restart Your Smartphone

You may have noticed that restarting your smartphone fixes quite a lot of issues. This is because the background apps and processes get flushed after the restart.

The same trick can be applied when the auto-rotate won’t work on your Android device.

1. Press and hold the power button.
2. Upon seeing the power menu, tap the Restart option.

After the restart is complete, turn your phone sideways to see if the auto-rotate starts working.

Calibrate Your Android Device’s Sensors

Inbuilt sensors like the accelerometer (Also known as G-sensor) may be failing to read your hand motions on your device. Calibrating your phone’s sensors can help fix the auto-rotate issue.

However, the recent versions of Android devices don’t have the calibration tool. So, using a dedicated third-party tool can help. You should consider the reviews, ratings, and features while choosing such tools. 

To show you how it works, we have selected Accelerometer Calibration. Once you download and install this app from Play Store, all you have to do are shown beneath.

1. Launch Accelerometer Calibration.
2. To place the red circle in the center, put your phone on a horizontal surface.
3. Then, tap Calibrate.
4. It will check your phone’s calibration hardware and start the calibration process shortly after.
5. After the calibration process completes, restart your phone.
   

Reboot Your Device in Safe Mode

Third-party apps often interfere with your device’s settings. If such apps are causing the auto-rotate to not work on your Android, you can reboot your device in safe mode.

This helps you identify the problematic apps and remove them from your system. For now, learn how you can reboot your Android device in safe mode. But, bear in mind that the steps may be different with every type and model of phone.

1. Press and hold your Android device’s power button.
2. Then, touch and hold the power off until the Restart in Safe Mode displays on the screen.
3. Tap OK.
   

Your Android phone will now turn on safe mode. Now, you can enable the auto-rotate feature and check if it has started working.

In case the auto-rotate feature starts working in safe mode, then, it’s time you remove the faulty third-party apps. But, if you don’t want to say goodbye to these apps, try clearing the cache.

Eliminate Problematic Third-Party Apps

If the auto-rotate worked on your phone in safe mode, the third-party apps may be the root of the problem. To identify the defective apps, take turns in eliminating them. And, inspect afterward if the auto-rotate feature works after removing them.

Here’s how you can remove troublesome third-party apps from your Android device.

1. Launch Settings.
2. Select Apps or Apps & notifications.
   
3. Locate and select the recently installed apps. Or, the apps that you downloaded from untrustworthy sources.
4. Tap Uninstall option.
5. Confirm by tapping OK.

Turn on the Rotate to Landscape Mode

If you’re expecting the auto-rotate feature to rotate the home screen, then, sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s not going to work. The auto-rotate feature cannot do so.

However, if you want to rotate the home screen on your Android device, you can do so in the following way.

1. Go to Quick Settings by swiping down from the top of the screen.
2. Long-press the auto-rotate icon.
3. Scroll down until you see Rotate to landscape mode.
4. Underneath it, toggle the button next to Home screen.

Update Your Android Device

Updating your Android device is like taking your phone for a doctor’s visit. It detects and fixes any signs of troubles within the device, further boosting its performance.

If the auto-rotate feature is not working like it’s supposed to, follow the steps below to update your phone.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap About Phone.
3. Then, tap System Update or the phone’s Android version. They are mostly right below About Phone.
   
4. After the phone checks for the latest updates, tap Download and Install. If the Update option doesn’t show up, your device is up-to-date.
   

Install Rotation Control App

If the solutions above did nothing to fix your auto-rotate feature, you can install and use a rotation control app for a certain time. Look for the ones that are reliable and does the job efficiently.

However, this is only a temporary solution. So, you would rather take your phone to a service and repair center.