How to Lock Screen Orientation on iPhone & iPad with iOS 17 / iPadOS 17

The iPhone and iPad automatically switch the orientation from Portrait to Landscape upon rotating the device. This could be frustrating at times when you’re not in an upright position, as the screen switches orientation even if the device is just slightly tilted. And since we don’t always use our iPhone and iPad in an upright position, whether we’re laying on our beds while we’re browsing the internet or scrolling through our e-mails, the screen can rotate sometimes when you don’t want it to. This is exactly where the screen orientation lock comes in, as it allows the user to lock the orientation of the device screen to Portrait mode, so they don’t have to worry about holding the iPhone or iPad at a certain angle.

Do you want to stop your iPhone or iPad from switching to landscape mode automatically? Then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll be discussing how you can lock screen orientation on your iPhone and iPad within a matter of seconds. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the procedure.

How to Lock Screen Orientation on iPhone & iPad

Screen orientation lock has been available to iOS users as an option within Control Center for years now. However, depending on the device you own, accessing Control Center might slightly vary. Simply follow the steps below according to your specific device to avoid any sort of confusion.

1. • If you’re using an iPad, or a relatively new iPhone that lacks a home button like the iPhone X or later, you can head over to the Control Center by swiping down from the rop-right edge of the screen.
   • If you’re using an iPhone or supported iPod Touch that feature a home button like the iPhone 8 or older, simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen to access the Control Center.
   
2. Now simply tap on the “lock” icon located right below the network settings card, as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
3. Now, you’ll notice the icon / toggle has turned red, ensuring that Portrait Orientation Lock is enabled on your iPhone or iPad.
   
   
4. If you want to turn off the lock at any point, simply tap the Orientation Lock toggle again within Control Center.

That’s all there is to it. From now on, you don’t have to hold your iPhone or iPad straight to stop it from switching orientation on its own.

With Portrait Orientation Lock turned on, you can even lay on your side and browse through Safari or watch YouTube without the device going to landscape mode.

This is not the kind of feature that you’d probably want to permanently turn on, so it makes sense why Apple has added this functionality as a toggle within Control Center instead of burying it deep in settings.

Regardless of what app you’re using, you can quickly enable or disable the orientation lock with just a swipe and a tap. Note there’s no landscape orientation lock for iPhone users who want to use their devices in landscape mode regardless of their posture, as of now, though you can lock an iPad into landscape mode if desired. However, that could change at some point down the line with a software update to iOS and iPadOS, as features often change and evolve over time.

Obviously this applies to the latest iOS and iPadOS releases, from iOS 13, iOS 14, iOS 15, iOS 16, iOS 17, and later, but orientation lock is available on prior system software versions as well for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. If you’re running an earlier release, you can learn how to use the feature for those versions too. You may even have an older iPad device with a physical button that could work as orientation lock or mute, but that was removed from later iPad hardware.

Rarely, sometimes orientation lock gets stuck and you’ll have to toggle the feature on and off again, quit apps, physically rotate the device, or even reboot to resolve that issue, but that shouldn’t happen too often.

What do you think about the screen orientation lock on iPhone and iPad? Do you use it often to avoid the random rotating of the screen, or to avoid switching to landscape mode while you’re laying on bed? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section down below.