How to flip or mirror your iPhone pictures

We're all familiar with our reflections in mirrors, so it makes sense that we would prefer that version of ourselves. When you use the selfie camera on your iPhone, you see yourself flipped around on the screen. But after you snap a selfie, you might realize that the picture saved in your Photos app doesn't look quite the same as what you just saw before taking it. So disappointing!

Want to fix this flip selfie and get exactly what you see in the viewfinder? Let's have a look at how to reverse a photo on an iPhone when taking selfies.

Why does the iPhone camera flip pictures?

Let me try to explain the "iPhone selfie mirror image" issue with a simple example. I think you probably saw pictures of people taking selfies in the car, so it looks like you’re sitting on the right side of the car, and the passenger seat turned out on the left.

When you take a photo, the iPhone flips the image, making it look like what you'd see in a mirror. If it didn't do that, trying to get the camera positioned correctly would be super tricky. Just think about it: you'd see your right hand on the left side of the picture, and that would be really confusing when you're trying to get the shot just right.

What is mirroring and how to use It?

Usually, when taking a selfie with the front camera on your iPhone, it flips the image so it looks like how others see you. This means text and things in the picture end up reversed. But if you turn on the Mirror Front Camera feature, your selfies will show exactly what you see in the preview.

Does it really make a difference?

The are several reasons why Mirror Front Camera is perfect:

• Self-expression. It helps you show off your own style and personality just the way you want.
• Quick reference. It helps you to take a quick look at your hair and makeup before you head out to a meeting or event.
• Composing shots. It helps you frame yourself perfectly, making it easier to get the shot you want.

I'll show you how to stop the iPhone front camera from flipping in a separate section because the process differs depending on the iOS you're running.

How to flip a picture on an iPhone

Let's first deal with the situation when you have already taken a photo.

Here's how to flip a picture on an iPhone:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Choose the image to flip.
3. For iOS 17 and earlier, tap Edit at the top right corner of the screen. For iOS 18, tap the Edit icon at the bottom.



4. Tap Crop > Choose the flip image icon at the top left.
5. Tap Done.

That's how to invert a picture on an iPhone. Easy as pie!

How to mirror selfie photos (iOS 14 and later)

The iPhone's front camera lets you take mirrored selfies, so the pictures look just like what you see on the screen. This feature is super handy for snapping self-portraits, so your photos come out exactly how you expected them to!

Here's how to enable the Mirror Front Camera feature on an iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Camera.
3. Here, you will see the Mirror Front Camera feature > Turn it on.

Then, your iPhone will save photos as mirror photos, so they'll look just like what you see in the viewfinder when you're taking the shot.

Mirror selfie photos on iOS 13 and earlier

Mirrored selfies can only be taken on iPhones that have iOS 14 or newer. If you own an older iPhone that doesn't support iOS 14, you'll need to flip the photos by hand. Fortunately, you can do this easily with the editing tools available in Apple's Photos app.

Here's how to mirror a photo on iPhone running iOS 13 and earlier:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Select the image you want to flip.
3. Tap Edit at the top right corner of the screen.
4. Tap Crop at the bottom of the screen.
5. Choose the flip image icon at the top left of the screen.
6. Tap Done at the top right corner of the screen when you're finished.

If you take tons of pictures, just be careful you don't let them build up. My mother has about 500GB of photos filled with pets and selfies with friends, and it’s taking up a lot of space in our shared storage.

To help, I decided to offload her photos onto a portable SSD. I created a new Photos library on the SSD and set it as the system library for the originals. However, syncing the photos from iCloud has been painfully slow. I started one day ago, and I've only downloaded about 120GB so far.

To make this bulk transfer easier, I used AnyTrans for iOS. This app simplifies transferring and managing photos, which could speed up the process. If you're facing a similar issue, I highly recommend checking out AnyTrans for iOS.

How do you flip a picture on iPhone: Fixed

So, in this article, we have found out that you can easily change the orientation of a photo through the Edit button in the Photos app.

And that there is another point that when shooting with the front camera, we see one picture, but it is saved as mirrored. This can be annoying. Fortunately, there is an option in the camera settings to fix this.

I also want to highlight two amazing apps that I truly recommend – AnyTrans for iOS and CleanMy®Phone. You can find them available for download on Setapp. Even if you're feeling a bit lazy, don't miss out on this. There are plenty of fantastic tools for Mac and iPhone on this platform. I personally love NitroPDF, which allows editing PDFs and Expenses and helps me track my spending, and UpLife, which is a lifesaver for my mental health. Sign in to Setapp and discover more. All 250+ apps are free to try for seven days! 

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