How to rotate, turn, and flip video in iMovie

Learn how to rotate, turn, and flip a video in iMovie on Mac, iPad, and iPhone to fix a clip or add cool visual effects to your movie project.

When you’re editing in iMovie, you may want to do something unique and flip your clip. This can add exciting effects to your creation, or perhaps you need to rotate a clip for it to appear correctly.

Rotating can also come in handy when you’re working with vertical phone-recorded videos in iMovie.

Rotate or flip video in iMovie on Mac

You can rotate a clip clockwise or counterclockwise in 90-degree increments, and you can mirror it horizontally using a filter. So, open iMovie on your Mac and follow the steps below.

Rotate a clip

Select your clip in the timeline at the bottom. This will highlight it in yellow.
Click the Cropping button in the adjustments bar above the viewer.
Click either the Rotate Counterclockwise or Rotate Clockwise button on the right side of the cropping controls.
To apply the change, click the Apply button in the cropping controls.

If you want your clip to appear upside down, click the same rotate button twice. Note that this gives you a 180-degree rotation, not a mirrored vertical flip.

Flip a clip horizontally

Select your clip in the timeline at the bottom.
Click the Clip Filter and Audio Effects button in the adjustments bar above the viewer.
Click the Clip Filter button, then click Flipped in the filter gallery that appears.

Rotate or flip video in iMovie on iOS

You can rotate a clip clockwise or counterclockwise in 90-degree increments on an iPhone or iPad.

Open iMovie and open your movie project.
Scroll the timeline at the bottom until the clip you want to rotate appears in the viewer.
In the viewer, move your finger and thumb in a clockwise or counterclockwise twisting motion over the video image. When the white arrow appears, the clip has been rotated 90 degrees. It may take a moment for the clip to appear rotated in the viewer.

Repeat the gesture as many times as necessary to achieve the orientation you want. If you want your clip to appear upside down, use the steps above to rotate your clip twice.

Rotating or flipping your clips may sometimes be necessary or can add a nifty effect in other cases. Either way, this is a handy function to keep in mind when using iMovie.