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Most mobile devices like tablets or smartphones have an orientation sensor that signals the OS to rotate itself when the device is rotated.

But having installed Windows 8 on a desktop (or virtual machine), how do I rotate the screen? Obviously, this feature should be present in Windows 8 as it can be run on a tablet.

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  • 14
    Do you mean something like ctrl + alt + arrow keys or am I totally misunderstanding your question?
    – Peter
    Oct 29, 2012 at 16:39
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    @Peter That's an Intel feature; it has nothing to do with Windows. It will not work unless you're using Intel integrated video.
    – SLaks
    Oct 29, 2012 at 16:40
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    You have to turn your monitor...90 degrees at first, then go from there...
    – TheXed
    Oct 29, 2012 at 16:50
  • "You have to turn your monitor...90 degrees at first, then go from there..." YMMD :-D Sep 5, 2016 at 12:51

3 Answers 3

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Right-click the desktop and click Screen Resolution.
You will then see an Orientation dropdown:

enter image description here

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    @SLaks: nope, there is no such thing: http://imgur.com/MpAuf Oct 29, 2012 at 16:49
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    @VladimirSinenko Update your graphics drivers.
    – Elmo
    Oct 29, 2012 at 16:50
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    @VladimirSinenko - Then your video adapter, or the current driver maybe, doesn't support rotation. This is how it's done (and note that this is exactly like it was in 7 and Vista)
    – Shinrai
    Oct 29, 2012 at 16:50
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    @Joey: Nope, don't think so. Have come across a few Win7 systems at least (don't remember exactly which cards/chipsets though, but they had WHQL-approved drivers from Win Update) that were missing this option as well.
    – Karan
    Oct 29, 2012 at 17:15
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    @blachniet: That's a feature of Intel's video drivers, not Windows.
    – SLaks
    Oct 13, 2013 at 0:16
18

To rotate the display, hold down ctrl+alt and either Up, Down, Left, or Right to orient the screen as each of the four orientations.

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    This only works if your video adapter's driver/utility provides it (most commonly this is provided by Intel's graphics drivers, for Intel's graphics adapters). May 18, 2015 at 14:56
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"Orientation" setting is sometimes removed by computer manufacturer through modified drivers. If there is no such setting on your notebook, try installing driver from graphic chip manufacturer (Intel, nVidia or AMD) instead of from your notebook manufacturer.

Eg: HP 250 G2 notebook was missing this setting. After HP-supplied driver was uninstalled and replaced with authentic driver (obtained directly from Intel website), the "Orientation" setting appeared, as on SLak's screenshot.

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