Rotate PDF pages

What rotating a PDF does

Every PDF page has a rotation setting that tells PDF readers which way up to display it. This tool changes that setting for the pages you choose. The page content itself isn't redrawn or re-compressed, so rotation is lossless: text stays selectable and sharp, and the file size barely changes.

Rotation is applied clockwise and is added to whatever rotation the page already has:

• 90° — a quarter turn clockwise. Fixes a page lying on its left side.
• 180° — turns an upside-down page the right way up.
• 270° — three quarters clockwise, the same as a quarter turn anticlockwise. Fixes a page lying on its right side.

Why pages end up sideways or upside down

• Scanning. Pages fed into a document feeder in the wrong direction, or placed on the glass rotated, come out sideways or upside down.
• Landscape pages in a portrait document. Wide tables and charts are often printed landscape and scanned portrait.
• Phone photos. Photos converted to PDF can appear turned because the phone stored them with a "display rotated" tag that not every program honours.
• Double-sided scanning. Some duplex scanners flip every second page, leaving even pages upside down.

How to rotate PDF pages

1. Open the PDF in your usual reader first and note which pages need turning, and in which direction.
2. Add the PDF to the tool above.
3. Choose the angle: 90°, 180° or 270° (clockwise).
4. Choose the pages. All pages, or Selected pages with entries such as 2, 4, 6 or 3-5. Unlisted pages are left exactly as they were.
5. Rotate and download the file (saved as rotated- plus your file name), then open it to check.

Important things to know

Pages needing different turns

One run applies one angle. If some pages need 90° and others 180°, rotate the first group, download the result, then load that downloaded file and rotate the second group.

Rotating again

Rotation adds to the current angle — two 90° rotations make 180°. If the result is wrong, don't rotate the downloaded copy by guesswork; choose your original file again (use Choose a different file) and start from a known state.

Rotation vs content that is skewed

This tool turns pages in quarter turns only. A scan that's slightly crooked — tilted by a few degrees — can't be straightened by rotation; it needs rescanning or "deskew" in scanning software.

Print and display

Most readers and printers respect the rotation setting. A few print dialogs have an "auto-rotate" option that may turn landscape pages again to fit the paper; that's a printer setting, not a problem with the file.

Tips for fixing orientation

• Every other page upside down? For a 10-page duplex scan, select 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and rotate 180°.
• Check in the thumbnail view. Your PDF reader's page thumbnails show at a glance which pages still face the wrong way.
• Rotate before converting. If you'll make images with PDF to JPG or combine files with Merge PDF, fix orientation first so every copy is correct.

Common problems

The page turned the wrong way

90° is clockwise. If a page needed an anticlockwise turn, choose your original file again and use 270°.

"Page … is outside 1–N"

A page number in your selection is higher than the page count shown under the file name. Correct the number and try again.

It looks right in one app but not another

Some previews (especially in email apps) ignore rotation settings or cache an old thumbnail. Open the downloaded file in a full PDF reader to confirm.

The file won't load

The PDF may be damaged or password-protected. If you're entitled to it, save an unprotected copy in your usual PDF software first.

Rotate PDF FAQ