Is the Windows Auto-Rotation Lock Grayed Out? Here Are 6 Easy Fixes
If you are running Windows on a tablet or a convertible laptop, you may use the auto-rotation feature to match the orientation of both the screen and the device. You can enable and disable this feature according to your preferences using the auto-rotation lock just like you do on your phone.
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1. Remove Any Attached Keyboards
Before we move toward the complicated troubleshooting steps, we suggest you remove the keyboard and see if that fixes the issue for you. By default, in some devices, the auto-rotation lock will be grayed out if the keyboard is connected.
If you are facing the issue even after removing the keyboard, then it’s time to dig into the system.
2. Modify the Display Orientation Settings
If your device is not shifting to portrait mode automatically, you can enable it manually via Windows Settings. Once you do, you should hopefully be able to see the auto-rotation lock again.
Follow these steps to proceed:
While you are at it, you may also try making some changes in the Control Panel as well. Follow the steps below to proceed:
3. Update Display and Sensor Drivers
All external device components need drivers to function on the system properly. The drivers are basically a communication bridge between the hardware components and the system.
In cases where the relevant drivers are not functioning properly, you are likely to face issues while using services like the one under discussion. The solution, in this case, is simple—you can try updating the drivers first and see if that helps. If the error persists, you can reinstall the driver from scratch.
In this method, we will try updating the display drivers first. If that does not work, we will reinstall the driver.
Here is how you can do that:
If the error persists, we suggest you go ahead and uninstall the driver. The new driver will be installed automatically once you restart your computer after uninstalling the PC.
4. Modify the Windows Registry
Another fix that you could try is modifying the AutoRotation key in the Windows Registry. In this method, we will be changing the value of the LastOrientation value to remove the already-configured settings and forcing the system to use the sensor to detect the changes.
However, we suggest that youcreate a Registry backupbefore you proceed with the steps below. This will help you revert to the current working state of the Registry if anything goes wrong while performing the changes.
check that you are logged into Windows as an administrator before proceeding.
Once you have created a backup, follow these steps:
Upon reboot, hopefully, the issue will be resolved.
5. Install System Updates
System updates might seem irrelevant here, but if your operating system is not up-to-date, several features are likely to become incompatible with it, resulting in issues like a grayed-out screen rotation option.
If this scenario is applicable, we highly suggest you take your time toinstall the pending system updatesone by one.
6. Restart the Sensor Monitoring Service
Most features of your operating system depend upon certain Windows services. To ensure that the features are working properly, you must ensure that the services they are dependent upon are functioning too.
In this method, we will be restarting the “Sensor monitoring” service that is linked to the auto-rotation feature of Windows.
Here is what you need to do:
Enjoy the Auto-Rotation Feature on Windows
The auto-rotation feature comes with quite a lot of benefits. When enabled, it will adjust the orientation of your screen according to that of the device, saving you time that would have been wasted doing this manually. The methods mentioned above should help you fix the problems with auto-rotation lock in no time.
However, if you are still encountering the issue, you can report it to the official Microsoft support team and apply the fix they recommend.
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