You took a great shot on your Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5 Pro, but the photo somehow flipped? Or old photos from the archive are displayed sideways after transferring to a new phone? The problem with image orientation is one of the most common among MIUI users, and it is solved in just a few taps. In this article, we will analyze all the working ways to deploy photos on Xiaomi, including built-in tools and third-party applications, and explain why some images “stand on their heads” on their own.
It’s important to understand that the reasons for the incorrect display can be different, from a bug in the firmware to incorrect EXIF metadata that every photo stores. We will not be limited to standard tips like “click on the turn icon” – instead, you will get a detailed guide with an explanation of technical nuances, relevant for all Xiaomi models on MIUI 12-14, including flagship Xiaomi 13 Ultra and budget Redmi A2.
Why photos are turned over on Xiaomi: 3 main reasons
Before you fix the problem, you need to look at the sources of the problem, and here are three of the most common scenarios that make the photos not appear as they should:
- 📱 If the screen rotation function is on and you take a picture in landscape orientation, the system may misinterpret the camera position data. 12S Ultra).
- 🔄 Metadata EXIF. Each photo contains an official rotation tag, if it is damaged or conflicted with the viewer's settings, the image will be displayed sideways.
- 📁 Transfer between devices: When you copy photos from iPhone to Xiaomi via messengers (for example, Telegram or WhatsApp), metadata can be lost, and the system “does not understand” how to correctly orient the picture.
Interesting fact: the problem is more often with photos taken on the front camera (especially in the mirror-image selfie mode), this is due to the fact that some Xiaomi models save the pictures from the frontal phone in a “mirror” form, and then programmatically unfold them when viewing, if this process is wrong, the photo is displayed upside down.
⚠️ Note: If all photos in the gallery have been turned upside down after the update MIUI, The problem may be the cache failure of the com.miui.gallery application. in this case, resetting the gallery settings will help (see section 5).
Method 1: Turning photos through the standard Xiaomi gallery
The easiest method is to use the built-in editor in the Gallery app (or Google Photos if installed by default), and the instructions are valid for all smartphones on MIUI 12-14:
- Open the Gallery app and find the photo you need.
- Slip the image to open it in full screen mode.
- Click on the Edit icon** (pencil in the bottom menu).
- In the editor that opens, select the Rotate tool. * (round arrow) Each click turns the photo 90° clockwise.
If there is no turning icon, try an alternative path:
- Open the photo in the gallery.
- Slip on three points in the upper right corner → “Details”.
- Scroll down to the Actions block** and select Turn.
Check that the photo is not blocked (no lock icon)
Make sure the gallery has editing mode enabled (settings → editor)
Close the background applications to avoid saving errors
Backup important pictures (click Save as a copy)
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On some models (such as the POCO F4 GT), the orientation may “reset” when viewed in other apps after rotating the photo. This is because the Xiaomi gallery sometimes saves changes only in the previews, and not in the file metadata itself.
Method 2: Correcting Orientation with Google’s Photos Editor
Google Photos often works more consistently than the standard Xiaomi gallery, especially if the problem is related to metadata.
- Install Google Photos from Play Market (if not installed).
- Open the app and find the image you want.
- Slip on the photo → click “Edit”** (icon with sliders).
- Select the Tools tab** → Turn.
The advantage of this method: Google Photos not only corrects the visual display, but also the metadata of EXIF, so the photo will be correctly targeted in all applications (including Viber, Instagram and web browsers).
Xiaomi Standard Gallery
Google Photo
Third-party applications (e.g. Snapseed)
I don't edit the photo.
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| Annex | Stores metadata | Supports packet turnaround | It's offline. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xiaomi Gallery | ❌ (occasionally) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Google Photo | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Snapseed | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Photo & Picture Resizer | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
⚠️ Note: If you are editing a photo taken on an iPhone and transferred to Xiaomi, Google Photos may display a notification saying “Can’t save the changes” which means that the file is protected. DRM. The solution is to copy the photo to your computer, delete the metadata through ExifTool, and then re-upload it to your phone.
Method 3: Packet rotation of multiple photos (for MIUI 13-14)
If you need to expand dozens of images at once (for example, after importing from the camera), manually editing each is not an option.
- Download Photo & Picture Resizer.
- Open the app and select “Select photos”.
- Tick the necessary photos → click “Next”.
- In the action menu, select “Turn” → specify the angle (90°, 180° or 270°).
- Click Save and select the folder for the result.
The app supports batch processing of up to 50 photos at a time and retains original quality. The alternative is PicsArt, but there batch rotation is only available in the premium version.
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If you have blurred your photos after a batch rotation, check the “Save Original Resolution” setting in the app settings. By default, some editors reduce the size of the images to 1200px on the long side.
Method 4: Correct EXIF metadata (for advanced users)
If the photo is persistently displayed incorrectly in all applications (including PCs), the problem lies in the corrupted metadata, which can be corrected through ExifTool, a utility for working with EXIF.
- Download ExifTool and unpack the archive.
- Connect Xiaomi to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
- Copy the problem photos to the folder with exiftool.exe.
- Open the Command Prompt in this folder (Shift + right mouse button → Open the command window).
- Enter the command to turn 90° clockwise: exiftool -n -Orientation=6 -o. "name file.jpg" For other angles, use the values: Orientation=3 - 180° Orientation=8 - 270°
Once the command is complete, the photo will be displayed correctly on all devices, a method that is particularly useful for photographers working with the same device. RAW-files (.dng,.arw) that Xiaomi Gallery often opens with errors.
What is EXIF and why is it important?
Method 5: Reset gallery settings (if photos are displayed sideways after updating)
After the MIUI update, some users find that all photos in the gallery rotate 90°, although they are normal when viewed through the file manager.
- Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
- Find the Gallery and tap it.
- Select "Storage"** → "Clear the cache."
If the reset didn’t help, try rolling back the gallery update:
To diagnose metadata, use the EXIF Viewer app (available in the Play Market) to show the current Orientation tag and other parameters that may affect the display.
⚠️ Attention: If the problem occurred after rooting the phone or installing custom firmware, the cause may be incorrect operation of the libjpegturbo module, responsible for image processing. -w).