How to Rotate the Screen on Google Chrome?
Surfing the web on Google Chrome is a smooth experience on most sites. But occasionally you may come across pages with content better viewed in landscape mode. Reading long documents or viewing large photos can be easier when the screen is rotated 90 degrees.
Unfortunately, Google Chrome does not have a built-in feature to rotate the display. However, with the help of a simple browser extension, you can enable screen rotation right from Chrome. In this guide, we’ll walk through the steps to install a rotation extension, set a keyboard shortcut for quick access, and use it to flip your screen as needed.
Installing a Rotation Extension
The first step is to add an extension to Chrome to allow rotating the screen. There are only a few extensions to rotate the screen on Google Chrome, and “Flip This” is the best of them.
Flip This is a lightweight Chrome extension that lets you quickly rotate the entire browser screen 90 degrees left or right. With just two clicks, you can easily switch any webpage or document between portrait and landscape orientations.
Some examples of when screen rotation is useful:
- Reading research papers or long PDFs
- Viewing large spreadsheets or data tables
- Seeing more cells in an Excel sheet
- Fitting more content from mobile sites
- Viewing widescreen images or photos
- Reading long web articles or blogs
To install one, follow these steps:
- Open the Chrome Web Store and search for “Flip this”.
- Click “Add to Chrome” on the extension’s page.
- Confirm the add by clicking “Add extension” in the pop-up.
- If prompted, click the puzzle icon and pin the extension for easy access in your toolbar.
Once installed, you’ll see the extension icon added to your Chrome toolbar. Click it once to rotate the screen clockwise 90 degrees. Click again to rotate counter-clockwise. This flips the screen back and forth between landscape and portrait mode.
But for quicker access, let’s set up a keyboard shortcut next.
Setting a Keyboard Shortcut
With the extension installed, you can now set a custom keyboard shortcut to rotate the screen on command. Here’s how to do it:
- Click the puzzle icon to open Chrome’s Extensions menu.
- Under “Keyboard shortcuts”, click “Configure commands”.
- Scroll and find your rotation extension, then click “Keyboard shortcuts”.
- Check the box for “Rotate screen clockwise by 90 degrees”.
- In the box below, press your desired shortcut keys like Ctrl + Shift + R.
- Click “Assign” to save the custom shortcut.
That’s it! Now your chosen keyboard shortcut is ready to flip the screen at any time. Some other useful shortcuts to set are:
- Rotate screen counter-clockwise by 90 degrees
- Reset rotation
Combining shortcuts for clockwise, counter-clockwise, and reset rotations gives you full control.
FAQs and Troubleshooting
Here are some common questions and issues users may encounter:
How do I reset my custom keyboard shortcuts?
Go to Extensions > Keyboard shortcuts > Configure commands. Find the extension shortcuts and click “Restore defaults” to clear your custom bindings.
My keyboard shortcuts aren’t working
Make sure you don’t have another extension or software using the same shortcut binding. Also check that the extension icon is pinned to your toolbar.
Pages aren’t fully rotating
Some page elements may not fully rotate due to fixed CSS styling. Try refreshing the page or opening the content in a new tab.
How do I rotate the screen automatically?
Unfortunately automatic rotation based on device orientation is not possible. You need to use the manual shortcuts.
Can I rotate more than 90 degrees?
The extensions only provide 90 degree rotation options. You can install multiple extensions if you need more granular increments.
Is screen rotate available on mobile Chrome?
Rotation extensions only work on the desktop browser version currently. Mobile sites can be rotated within the device settings.
Why can’t I rotate PDFs?
Browser extensions can’t modify PDF viewing, so you’ll need to rotate the actual PDF file instead before viewing.
Conclusion
Although Chrome doesn’t have built-in screen rotation, you can use extensions to add the feature. Install Rotate or Turn Screen from the Web Store. Then set a custom keyboard shortcut to quickly flip pages landscape. Use the shortcut whenever you need a wider view for documents, photos, tables, and more. Rotating the screen can provide much easier browsing and reading in many cases.
Hopefully this guide has helped you enable landscape viewing in Google Chrome. Let us know if you have any other questions!
