You took a selfie. It looks great, but the text on your shirt is backwards. Or maybe you captured a landscape that just feels "off" because the visual weight is on the wrong side of the frame. It happens to everyone. Honestly, the mirror effect on the front-facing camera is one of those small annoyances that can ruin a perfectly good shot. People often think they need to download a heavy photo editing suite or some ad-riddled "mirror image" app from the App Store to fix it. You don't.
Learning how to flip a photo on an iphone is actually a native feature built right into the iOS Photos app. It’s tucked away behind a few taps, but once you know where it is, you’ll never look back. Apple hasn't always made this obvious. For years, users actually did have to use third-party tools like Snapseed or Instagram’s internal editor just to get a horizontal flip. But since iOS 13, the functionality has been sitting right there in your pocket, completely free and lossless.
The Basic Horizontal Flip: Step-by-Step
Let's get right into it. Open your Photos app. Find that picture that's driving you crazy because it's reversed.
Tap Edit in the top right corner. You'll see a row of icons at the bottom. The one you want is the Crop/Rotate icon—it looks like a square with two arrows circling it. Tap that. Now, look at the top left of your screen. There is a tiny icon that looks like a triangle split in half with a double-headed arrow above it. That is the magic button. Tap it once. Boom. Your photo just flipped horizontally.
It’s instantaneous. If you like how it looks, hit Done in the bottom right. If you realize the original was actually better, you can hit Cancel or just tap the flip icon again to toggle it back.
Why Does the iPhone Do This Anyway?
Most people don't realize that your iPhone actually shows you a "mirror" version of yourself in the viewfinder when you take a selfie. Why? Because that's what we're used to seeing in a literal mirror. If the phone showed you what you actually look like to other people in real-time, it would feel incredibly disorienting to move your head. You'd move left, but your image would move right. It’s a psychological trick. However, by default, the iPhone saves the "corrected" version—the way the world sees you. This often leads to that "I look weird" feeling because we aren't used to seeing our faces un-mirrored.
Dealing With Vertical Flips
Sometimes a horizontal flip isn't enough. Maybe you were holding your phone at a weird angle while lying down, and the accelerometer got confused. Now your photo is upside down or sideways.
While the "triangle" icon flips the image across a vertical axis (mirroring it), the Rotate button next to it handles the orientation. It's the boxy icon with a curved arrow. Each tap rotates the image 90 degrees counter-clockwise. If you need to flip a photo vertically (making the top the bottom), you actually have to combine these. Rotate it twice, then flip it horizontally. It’s a bit of a workaround, but it works perfectly without needing extra software.
The "Mirror Front Camera" Setting
If you're tired of having to learn how to flip a photo on an iphone every single time you take a selfie, there is a permanent fix. Apple added a setting for this a few versions back.
- Go to your Settings app.
- Scroll down until you find Camera.
- Look for the Composition section.
- Toggle on Mirror Front Camera.
When this is on, your selfies will be saved exactly as you see them in the preview. No more backwards text on your hoodie. No more "inverted face" syndrome. Just keep in mind that this only affects future photos. Anything already in your library will still need the manual edit method mentioned above.
Batch Flipping and Advanced Options
What if you have thirty photos from a photoshoot and they're all backwards? Doing them one by one is a nightmare.
In iOS 16 and later, Apple introduced a "Copy Edits" feature. This is a game changer for efficiency. Flip one photo exactly how you want it. Hit Done. Then, while looking at that flipped photo, tap the three dots (ellipsis) in the top right corner. Select Copy Edits. Go back to your main gallery, tap Select, and highlight all the other photos you want to flip. Tap the three dots in the bottom right and choose Paste Edits.
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Every single one of those photos will now be flipped. It takes about five seconds. Honestly, it’s one of the most underrated features of the modern iPhone.
Does Flipping Affect Photo Quality?
A common concern is whether "editing" the photo makes it grainier or lower resolution. Since the Photos app uses non-destructive editing, the answer is no. When you flip a photo, the iPhone isn't re-encoding the pixels in a way that loses data. It's basically just changing the metadata and instructions on how to display those pixels. You can revert to the original at any time, even years later, by hitting Edit and then Revert.
Taking It Further: When the Built-in Tools Aren't Enough
While the native app is great for a simple flip, sometimes you're trying to do something more creative, like a "mirror effect" where the original and the flipped version are side-by-side. The native app can't do this.
For that, you'll want to look at something like Adobe Lightroom Mobile or Canva. These apps allow you to duplicate the image and flip just one side of it. But for 99% of people who just want their selfie to look "right," the built-in Crop/Rotate tool is the peak of utility.
Actionable Next Steps
Now that you've mastered the flip, take a look at your recent selfies.
- Check if the Mirror Front Camera toggle is actually what you want long-term. Most people prefer it "on" once they try it.
- Practice the Copy/Paste Edits trick with a few dummy photos so you remember it when you're actually in a rush.
- Remember that flipping a photo can also be a great compositional tool. If a photo feels "heavy" on the left, try flipping it. It’s a trick painters have used for centuries to check the balance of their work.
If you ever mess up, the Revert button is your best friend. You can't truly "break" a photo by flipping it.