Quick Fix: Rotation Lock Grayed out on Windows 10

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If you own 2 in 1 Windows 10 device, rotation is one of the basic features that you’re going to use. Unfortunately, users have reported that Rotation Lock option is grayed out and that rotation isn’t working on their devices, so let’s fix that.

How To Fix: Rotation Lock Grayed Out On Windows 10

Fix – Rotation Lock grayed out / missing

Solution 1 – Turn on portrait mode on your device

If Rotation Lock is grayed out or missing on your device, sometimes you just need to rotate it to portrait mode. After rotating your device, rotation lock should be clickable again. If your device doesn’t switch to portrait mode automatically, you might have to switch manually by following these steps:

1. Open Settings App and go to System > Display.

2. Find Orientation and choose Portrait from the menu.



3. Your device should automatically switch to portrait mode.

Solution 2 – Reset your device

Users have reported that Rotation Lock function isn’t even showing in the notification area on their Microsoft Surface, and if you have the same problem on your Surface device, you can try to reset your device. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Turn off your device.

2. When the device turns off, hold Volume Up and Power button.

3. Choose reset and save option and exit.

After you’ve done that, Rotation Lock should now appear in the Notification area, and it should work properly. It seems that this issue is caused by connecting your Surface to an external display, so in order to avoid future problems, maybe you should avoid connecting your device to external displays until Microsoft releases a patch that fixes this issue.

Solution 3 – Use your device in tent mode

Users have reported that Rotation Lock is grayed out on their Dell Inspiron 11, and only way to fix this is to use tent mode. To enable Rotation Lock, do the following:

1. Put your device in tent mode. If your display is upside down, don’t worry.

2. Click the Action Center icon in your Taskbar and Rotation Lock should be available. Now you can turn off rotation lock and your display should rotate to proper position.

Solution 4 – Disconnect your keyboard

If Rotation Lock is grayed out on your Surface Pro 3 or Dell XPS 2-in-1 device, you might want to try disconnecting your keyboard. Users have reported that after the keyboard is disconnected Rotation Lock button starts working normally. Of course, if you own a different 2-in-1 device, you can still try this solution.

Solution 5 – Switch to Tablet Mode

Some users claim that problems with grayed out or missing Rotation Lock button can be fixed simply by switching to Tablet Mode. If your device doesn’t switch automatically to Tablet Mode, you can do the following to access Tablet Mode manually:

1. Click the Action Center button in the Taskbar.



2. When Action Center opens, click the Tablet Mode



You can also enter Tablet Mode using the Settings app:

1. Open Settings > System > Tablet Mode.

2. Make sure that Make Windows more touch-friendly when using your device as a tablet is turned On.



3. If you want, you can also change how your device will work when you automatically switch Tablet Mode on or off.

Solution 6 – Change LastOrientation registry value

If you have problems with Rotation Lock and if rotation isn’t working on your device, you might have to change some registry values. To do that, follow these steps:

Press Windows Key + R and type regedit. Press Enter or click OK.



2. When Registry Editor opens, you need to navigate to the following key in the left pane:

-> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AutoRotation

3. In the right pane, find LastOrientation and double click it.



4. In Value data box enter 0 and click OK to save changes.



5. If you see SensorPresent DWORD available, double click it and make sure that its value is set to 1.

Solution 7 – Uninstall / Update your display drivers

Sometimes, problems with Rotation Lock can be caused by your display drivers, so you might need to update them or uninstall them. To uninstall your drivers, do the following:

1. Press Windows Key + X and choose Device Manager from the list.



2. When Device Manager opens, navigate to Display adapters section and locate your driver.

3. Right click the driver and choose Uninstall.



4. After you have uninstalled the driver, restart your device.

If the problem still persists, you might have to update your display adapters. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Open Device Manager and locate your display adapter, driver.

2. Right click it and choose Update Driver Software.



3. Choose one of the options and follow the instructions.

In addition, you can always go to your device manufacturer’s website and download latest drivers for your device.

Solution 8 – Make sure that your screen is allowed to auto rotate

If your screen isn’t allowed to auto rotate, this can be one of the causes for Rotation Lock problems. To fix this issue, you need to check if your screen is allowed to auto rotate. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Right click your desktop and choose Display settings.



2. When Display settings open, click on Advanced display settings.



3. Now click on Advanced sizing of text and other items.



4. On the left side choose Change display settings.



5. Check Allow the screen to auto rotate.

6. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

7. After you’ve done that, restart your computer in order to apply the changes.

Solution 9 – Check Sensor Monitoring Service

Problems with Rotation Lock and rotation can be caused by certain services, so let’s check if those services are working properly. To do that, do the following:

1. Press Windows Key + R and type services.msc. Press Enter or click OK.



2. When Services window opens, locate Sensor Monitoring Service and double click it.



3. Change the Startup type to Automatic and click Start to start the service.



4. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Solution 10 – Disable YMC service

If you own Lenovo Yoga device and you have problems with rotation and Rotation Lock button, you can fix these problems by disabling the YMC service. To do that, you need to follow these steps:

1. Open Services window and locate YMC service.

2. Double-click the service to open its properties and set the Startup type to Disabled.



3. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.

Solution 11 – Remove Intel Virtual Buttons Driver

It has been reported that Intel Virtual Buttons driver causes problems with rotation and it also makes the Rotation Lock button grayed out. So far, the only solution is to uninstall the driver and to do that you need to follow these steps:

1. Open Device Manager. You can open Device Manager by pressing Windows Key + X and choosing Device Manager from the list.



2. Once Device Manager opens, locate Intel Virtual Buttons driver.

3. Right click it and choose Uninstall.

After the driver has been removed, rotation and Rotation Lock button should be working normally.

Solution 12 – Disable sensors from Device Manager and enable them again

Problems with rotation can be caused by your sensors, and you might have to temporarily disable them from Device Manager. To do that, follow these instructions:

1. Start Device Manager.

Find Sensor sections and disable all sensors by right clicking them and choosing Disable from the menu.



3. After you’ve disabled all the sensors, you need to enable them again. To do that, just right click the disabled device and choose Enable from the menu.

If the issue still persists, it’s advised that you restart your computer after you’ve disabled the sensors. After Windows 10 starts, you need to go back to Device Manager enable the sensors again.

Solution 13 – Download latest firmware, drivers and Windows updates

Often these issues can be resolved by downloading the latest drivers from the manufacturer’s website, so if you have problems with missing or grayed out Rotation Lock button, try downloading and installing all latest drivers for your device. Yoga 3 users have reported that problems with rotation and Rotation Lock have been fixed after ITE sensor firmware update, so make sure that you download and install the latest firmware for your device. Other users have reported that these problems have been resolved by downloading latest Windows updates, so if you’re having this problem, it won’t be a bad idea to update your Windows 10.

Solution 14 – Update your BIOS

If Rotation Lock is grayed out or missing, you might be able to fix that by updating your BIOS. To update BIOS, you need to go your device manufacturer’s website and download the latest BIOS. Before you perform a BIOS update, make sure that you read the instruction manual carefully in order to avoid any potential damage.

Solution 15 – Restart Windows 10

In some cases, the most obvious solution is the best solution, and few users have reported that they have managed to fix missing Lock Rotation button by simply restarting their device. We have to mention that turning off and turning on your device won’t work since Windows 10 uses hybrid shutdown (that is similar to Hibernate feature from previous versions of Windows). Instead, you’ll have to choose Restart option from the Power menu in order to perform a proper restart.

There are many reasons why Rotation Lock button might be grayed out or missing on your Windows 10 device, but we hope that you’ve managed to fix this issue by following our solutions.

source:windowsreport