How to flip or mirror a photo on any device

To flip a photo, open it in the editor that came with your phone or computer and look for Flip (called Mirror in Google Photos on Android), which usually sits with the crop tools. A horizontal flip swaps left and right, like a mirror, and a vertical flip swaps top and bottom. Windows 11 Photos, Photos on Mac and Preview can flip both ways. Photos on iPhone flips horizontally only, but a flip plus two quarter turns gives you a vertical flip. In any browser, our flip image tool mirrors a photo either way and works on your device, without uploading it.

How to flip a photo: quick answer by device

Device and app	Where to find flip	Directions
iPhone, Photos	Edit > Crop > Flip	Horizontal. For vertical, flip, then tap Rotate twice
Android, Google Photos	Edit > Crop > Mirror	One button. Rotate twice after it for the other direction
iPhone, Google Photos app	Edit > Flip (with the crop tools)	One button. Rotate twice after it for the other direction
Samsung Galaxy, Gallery	Edit (pencil) > Transform > Flip	One button. Turn the photo upside down with Rotate for the other direction
Windows 11, Photos	Edit image (Ctrl+E) > Crop > flip icons	Horizontal and vertical
Mac, Photos	Edit > Crop > Flip	Horizontal. Option-click Flip for vertical
Mac, Preview	Tools > Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical	Horizontal and vertical
Google Photos in a browser	No flip in Google’s steps	Use an online flip tool
Any browser	Our flip image tool	Horizontal and vertical

A horizontal flip and a vertical flip give different pictures, and neither one is a rotation. If your photo is sideways or upside down rather than mirrored, you want to rotate the image instead. The difference is explained below.

How to flip a photo on iPhone

1. Open the Photos app and tap the photo.
2. Tap Edit, then tap Crop.
3. Tap the Flip button. Apple says it flips the image horizontally.
4. Tap Done to save. If you do not like the result, tap Cancel, then Discard Changes (Apple).

Apple gives the same steps for iOS 26 (Apple) and iOS 18 (Apple), and the same steps flip a video. To undo the flip after you save, open the photo, tap Edit, then tap Revert (Apple), or tap More, then Revert to Original (Apple). Either way the photo goes back to its original, so your other edits go too. Tapping Flip a second time is the gentler undo.

Flip a photo vertically on iPhone

Apple’s guide lists no vertical flip, but you can make one in the same Crop screen:

1. Tap Flip to mirror the photo left to right.
2. Tap Rotate twice. Each tap turns the image 90 degrees (Apple), so two taps make a half turn.
3. Tap Done.

This works because a half turn is the same as flipping left to right and top to bottom at once (Wikipedia). Add one more horizontal flip and only the top to bottom flip is left. You can also use our flip tool in Safari: it starts with Flip horizontal on, so press that to turn it off, then press Flip vertical.

How to flip a picture on Android with Google Photos

1. Open the Google Photos app and the photo.
2. At the bottom, tap Edit, then Crop.
3. Tap Mirror. Google describes it simply as the button that flips the photo.
4. Tap the checkmark, then Save (Google).

Google offers two ways to save. Save changes the original photo, and you can undo it later by opening the photo and tapping Edit, then Revert. Save as copy makes a new photo and leaves the original alone, but you cannot undo or adjust the edits in that copy later. On Android 10 or older, Google says simple edits like crop and rotate can only be saved as a copy (Google).

Google’s help does not say which way Mirror flips. If the photo turns upside down when you wanted left and right swapped, or the other way around, tap Rotate twice before you save.

In the Google Photos app on iPhone and iPad, the button is called Flip: tap Edit, then Flip, then the checkmark and Save (Google). On a computer, Google’s steps for photos.google.com list Crop & rotate with a Rotate button but no flip or mirror (Google). There, use the phone app or our online flip tool.

How to flip a photo on a Samsung Galaxy

1. Open the Gallery app and select the photo.
2. Tap the Edit icon (the pencil).
3. Tap Transform, the icon that looks like a right arrow with a square, then tap Flip (Samsung). Samsung’s Australian guide shows the Flip icon as soon as you tap Edit (Samsung).
4. Tap Save, and then tap Save again. To keep the original, tap More options (the three vertical dots) and then Save as copy instead (Samsung).

Samsung’s guides do not say which way Flip mirrors, so check the preview. If you need the other direction, use Rotate in the same Transform tools to turn the photo upside down as well. To start over while you are still editing, tap Revert, then Revert to original (Samsung).

How to flip an image in Windows 11 Photos

1. Type Photos in the search box on the taskbar, select Photos, then select your photo.
2. Select Edit image at the top of the screen, or press Ctrl+E.
3. Select Crop.
4. Select the flip icon you need. Microsoft lists one to flip the image vertically (up and down arrows) and one to flip it horizontally (left and right arrows) (Microsoft).
5. Save the photo.

To cancel every edit before you save, select Reset at the top left (Microsoft). Microsoft’s guide does not describe the save options for photos, so if you want to keep the original as it is, make a copy of the file before you edit it.

How to flip a photo on Mac: Photos and Preview

In Photos:

1. Double-click the photo, then click Edit in the toolbar.
2. Click Crop in the toolbar.
3. Click Flip to flip the image horizontally, or Option-click Flip to flip it vertically.
4. Click Done or Save Changes. To stop without saving, click Revert to Original or Revert (Apple).

In Preview:

1. Open the image in Preview.
2. Choose Tools > Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical (Apple).

To flip several images at once in Preview, open them in the same window, choose View > Thumbnails, select them in the sidebar, then choose the flip command from the Tools menu (Apple).

How to flip a photo online

Our flip image tool works in any browser, on a phone or a computer, and the photo stays on your device.

1. Open flip image and choose a photo. It takes JPG, PNG, WebP or AVIF files up to 20 MB.
2. A horizontal flip is applied as soon as the photo opens. Press Flip horizontal to turn it off. For a top to bottom flip only, turn off Flip horizontal and press Flip vertical. With both on, the result is the same as a half turn.
3. Choose a Download format, then select Download image.

Your original file is not changed, because the tool saves a new copy. A flip never changes the width or height, so a 1080 x 1350 photo stays 1080 x 1350. The same editor also has Rotate left and Rotate right buttons, so you can fix a photo that is both mirrored and sideways in one go.

Flip vs rotate: what is the difference?

Flipping makes a mirror image. Rotating turns the picture around its center without mirroring anything. Two flips at right angles add up to a half turn, which is why they can stand in for each other (Wikipedia), but no amount of turning can undo a single flip.

What you do	What changes	Writing in the photo	Width and height
Flip horizontal	Left and right swap places	Reads backwards	Unchanged
Flip vertical	Top and bottom swap places	Upside down and backwards, like a reflection in water	Unchanged
Rotate 90 degrees	The picture turns a quarter	Readable if you tilt your head	Swapped
Rotate 180 degrees	The picture turns upside down	Readable if you turn the screen around	Unchanged
Flip horizontal and vertical	Same as rotate 180 degrees	Same as rotate 180 degrees	Unchanged

Mirror, flip horizontal and reverse all mean the same thing: the picture faces the other way. If your photo came out sideways or upside down, it needs a turn, not a flip, so use rotate image. If the writing in it reads backwards, it needs a horizontal flip.

Why selfies look mirrored and how to turn it off

While you frame a selfie, the front camera preview works like a mirror, so you see yourself the way you do in a bathroom mirror. Whether the saved photo keeps that mirror view depends on a camera setting. Google puts it plainly: you can save your selfies as mirrored or non-mirrored photos (Google). A mirrored selfie matches what you saw, but any writing in it reads backwards. A non-mirrored one shows you the way the camera sees you, which can look odd to you even though the writing reads correctly.

To choose how new selfies are saved:

• iPhone: go to Settings > Camera and turn Mirror Front Camera on to save selfies as you see them in the front camera frame, rather than reversed (Apple). Turn it off to save them non-mirrored.
• Google Pixel: in the Camera app, tap the down arrow at the top, then Settings, then Save selfie as previewed. Google says that if you save a selfie as previewed, it won’t appear reversed after you take it (Google).
• Samsung Galaxy: in the Camera app, tap the Quick controls icon (the four dots), then the Settings icon. Under General, Save selfies as preview saves selfies as they appear in the preview, without flipping them (Samsung). Samsung’s steps are written for the Galaxy S26, so menus on older models may differ.

For a selfie you already took, flip it with any of the methods above. One horizontal flip turns a mirrored selfie into a non-mirrored one, or the other way around.

Why text reads backwards after you flip a photo

A flip mirrors every pixel, letters included. MDN’s own example of a horizontal flip turns the words “Hello world!” into mirror writing (MDN). So signs, shirts, screens, logos and license plates read backwards after a horizontal flip, and come out upside down and backwards after a vertical one.

• Writing reads backwards in a selfie? The photo was saved mirrored. One horizontal flip makes it readable again.
• Want the person to face the other way but keep a caption readable? Flip the photo first, then add text to the image. Our editor draws new text on top after the flip, so it reads the right way around.
• Scans, documents and ID photos: do not flip them. A mirrored copy is no longer a faithful copy. If a scan came out turned the wrong way, rotate the scan instead.