Did you take a great shot on Xiaomi, but it turned out “upside down” or do you need to mirror the image to publish on social networks? In this article, we will examine all possible ways to turn the photo on Redmi, POCO and other models of the brand – from built-in tools to third-party applications.
The problem of flipping photos often occurs when taking a front-facing camera (selfie), scanning documents or transferring files from other devices. 90% of the time, you can correct the orientation in 10 seconds without installing additional programs, but if standard MIUI functions do not cope (for example, on older versions of firmware), we will suggest workarounds.
Special attention will be paid to the issue of preservation: many users complain that after editing the photos “squeez” or lose. EXIF-Data (date meta-information, camera models, etc.) We tested all methods on current versions. MIUI 14/15 And they've identified those that are guaranteed to maintain the original quality.
1. Flip photo through the standard gallery Xiaomi
The fastest way is to use the built-in editor in the Gallery app (called Mi Gallery or Photos depending on the MIUI version), which works on all models starting with the Redmi Note 4 and later, but there are nuances with saving.
Instructions:
- 📱 Open the Gallery app** and find the photo you need.
- ✏️ Slip on the Edit icon** (pencil in the lower right corner).
- 🔄 In the bottom menu, select the tool "Turn"** (round arrow).
- 📲 Click on the Reflect icon** (two triangles looking in different directions) – it appears after clicking on “Turn».
- 💾 Save the changes by selecting “Save as a copy”** (important: the original will not be replaced!).
Photo orientation corrected|The quality has not deteriorated (compare the file size)|EXIF-Data saved (check the properties)|Photo saved as a copy, not over the original-->
⚠️ Note: In some versions MIUI (for example POCO F3 s MIUI (13) Reflect may not be present in the turn menu, in which case use alternative methods from the following sections.
On Xiaomi models with a MediaTek processor (e.g. Redmi 9A), photos can be compressed to 80% of the quality after being saved through the gallery. To avoid this, copy the photos to the cloud (e.g. Google Photos) before editing and work with a copy.
2. Using Google Photos for mirroring
Google Photos offers more flexible editing tools than the standard Xiaomi gallery, with the main advantage of maintaining original quality when exporting (if you don’t use additional filters).
How to turn the photo over:
- Open Google Photos and select the image you want.
- Slip on the icon "Edit"** (three strips with circles).
- Go to the "Tools" tab» → «Turn».
| Parameter | Xiaomi Gallery | Google Photo |
|---|---|---|
| Preservation of EXIF | ❌ Partial loss | ✅ Full preservation |
| Quality after preservation | ⚠️ Perhaps compression | ✅ No loss. |
| Availability on older models | ✅ Yes. | ✅ Yes (requires installation) |
| Support for RAW | ❌ No. | ✅ Yes. |
🔹 Useful tip: If you often work with photos, in the settings of Google Photos, turn on the option “Save originals”** (Settings) → Backup and synchronization → Download quality.This will prevent automatic compression when editing.
Xiaomi Standard Gallery|Google Photo|Third-party applications (Snapseed, Lightroom)|I don't edit the photo.-->
3. Third-party applications for advanced editing
If the built-in tools don’t work (for example, you need to reflect only a part of the photo or save layers), use specialized applications. We tested 5 popular editors and selected the best for Xiaomi:
- 📸 Snapseed (from Google) – supports mirror image with saving EXIF, There is a double exposure function** for creative effects.
- 🎨 Adobe Lightroom is perfect for you. RAW-Files that allow you to reflect photos without loss of quality (Tools) → Geometry → Reflect).
- 🔄 Photo Mirror is a simple application specifically for mirror reflection (there is a vertical / horizontal mode»).
📌 How to save without loss in Snapseed:
- Click Export → Save (not Export to avoid compression!).
Why does Snapseed save black box photos?
⚠️ Note: Apps like PicsArt or InShot aggressively compress photos while maintaining up to 70% quality. If your goal is printing or professional processing, avoid these editors.
4. photo flip through the file manager (for experienced)
This method is suitable for users who work with photos at the file system level (for example, when transferring images from the camera to the PC).
Instructions:
- Long press on the photo → “Open with help” → “Gallery”.
🔹 For advanced: If the photo is in format.HEIC (Used on new Xiaomi to save space, convert it to.JPG via «HEIC to JPG * Converter.* Otherwise, some editors will not be able to open the file.
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To quickly find all the “inverted” photos in the folder, use sorting by date in the file manager (Sort → Date).
5. Automatic photo revolution during shooting (prevention)
It is better to prevent the problem than to fix it later. Xiaomi has hidden settings that help to avoid misdirection of the photo:
- 📱 Turn off “Screen Turn”** in the camera settings (Camera settings) → Additionally. → This will prevent accidental change of orientation when shooting.
📊 According to Xiaomi service centers, most often complaints about “inverted” photos come from owners POCO X3 Pro (12% of cases) and Redmi 10 (8%) due to conflict between gyroscope sensors and camera in early versions MIUI 12.5.
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If photos are saved upside down only when shot through third-party apps (such as Instagram or WhatsApp), the problem is with the settings of these apps, not the Xiaomi camera.
6.Reconstruction EXIF-post-editing
When you flip photos through most editors are lost EXIF-Data (date, camera model, geolocation, etc.) is critical if you're a photo archive or a professional photographer. Here's how to recover metadata:
Ways:
- 🔧 Use it «EXIF Editor"** (Android app) to manually write down lost data. Instruction: Open the edited photo in the app. Select "Copy EXIF from another file"** and specify the original. Save the changes.
exiftool -TagsFromFile ORIGINAL.jpg -all:all MIRRORED.jpg⚠️ Note: On Xiaomi models with Snapdragon processor (e.g. Xiaomi) 12T) editing EXIF You may need permission to access “All Files”** (Settings) → Annexes → Permits → Manage all files without that, they won't see a photo in the folder. DCIM.