To turn off auto rotate on your Surface Pro, you can use the Action Center/Quick Settings menu or the general Settings menu. If the rotation lock slider is grayed out, consider resetting your device, disabling and re-enabling sensors, or updating display drivers.
Having your Surface Pro auto rotate can be incredibly handy when you are using certain apps and programs, and improve user experience drastically. However, there are also other situations where it is frustrating having your screen automatically rotate.
For example, laying down on your side to browse the internet in bed and instantly having the entire screen flip sideways can be annoying. Thankfully, it is incredibly easy to turn this auto rotate feature off and on, and this guide is going to explain how it’s done.
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Key Takeaways
- Perhaps the best and fastest way to turn auto rotate off and on is by using the Action Center (Windows 10) or Quick Settings menu (Windows 11).
- Another option is to use the general Settings menu. It is a few extra steps, but works just as well.
- If the rotation lock option is grayed out and you can’t turn it on or off, you should try resetting the device, disabling and re-enabling sensors, or updating your display drivers.
Use the Action Center/Quick Settings
The first way to turn auto rotate off is to use the Action Center or Quick Settings menu. The Quick Settings menu appears in Windows 11, and replaces the Action Center that was present in Windows 10. Thankfully, the steps for each are essentially the same.
You begin by opening the Action Center or Quick Settings menu. This can be done by pressing the Windows key + A, or by clicking the notification icon on the far right side of your taskbar in Windows 10, or the battery, network, or volume icon on the taskbar in Windows 11.
This will bring up a list of buttons, and then simply press Rotation Lock, and this will lock your device to the current orientation. If you don’t see the button, click Expand and it should show up in the list of options.
Use Settings
Another option is to simply go to your Settings and change it there. Open Settings, navigate to System, then Display, and then scroll down to the Scale & layout section. Here, you will see Rotation Lock, and a toggle switch that can be turned on and off as you please.
Even though it is a few extra clicks, it is still a very easy way to stop your screen from rotating.
Rotation Lock Grayed Out
While this is generally a simple issue to fix, there may be a time where the Rotation Lock setting is grayed out. This will stop you from adjusting the rotation lock at all. Bugs and issues like this can occur, and there are a few things you can try in order to rectify this problem.
One of the first things to try is to reset the device. Restarting your Surface Pro or other device gives it a fresh start and can start your system memory from scratch and wipes away the state that the software is in.
Restarting your Surface Pro can be done in the Start menu, with a keyboard shortcut, or even by forcing a restart. If this doesn’t work, you can try to disable and re-enable the sensors that detect what orientation your device is in.
To do this, go to the Device Manager and find the Sensors section. Right-click on the sensors and choose to Disable them all. Once that is done, go back and re-enable them and this could repair the problem.
Another option is to update the display drivers. While these normally update when you update your operating system as a whole, this won’t always be the case. To update drivers, simply go to the Device Manager, right click the display drivers, and click Update driver.
Final Thoughts
While your Surface Pro seamlessly changing from portrait to landscape can be great for usability within certain programs, there will be some occasions where you’d rather manually decide which orientation your screen is in.
We hope this guide has been able to help you learn how to turn off auto rotate on your Surface Pro.
When using your Surface Pro, do you prefer to use it in portrait or landscape? Let us know in a comment.
