Webcam image mirrored or upside down: why it happens and how to fix it

A mirrored image is left and right swapped, like a mirror. An upside-down image is flipped vertically, or rotated by 180 degrees. They have different causes and different fixes, so decide which one you have first. Writing on a shirt or on the wall behind you is the easiest way to tell: mirrored text reads backwards, upside-down text is inverted.

Most call apps show you a mirrored preview, because that is how a real mirror behaves and it feels natural when you move. In Zoom this is the Mirror my video setting under Settings, then Video, and it changes only your own view. Other participants normally see the image the right way round.

So before changing anything, ask someone on the call what they see, or record a short clip with the camera app and look at it. If the writing is correct in the recording, nothing is wrong; if you prefer to see yourself unmirrored, switch the option off.

Some cameras and some apps mirror the actual output. Check the camera's own settings first: the camera app that came with the webcam (for example a manufacturer utility) often has a Mirror or Flip option. Then check the app's video settings for a mirror or flip option, and check any virtual camera or background software in between, because those programs sometimes add a flip of their own.

Test with another app, such as a browser camera test or the operating system's camera app. If the picture is correct there and wrong in one call app, the fix is in that app's settings.

An upside-down picture after a driver or system update is most often the driver reading the sensor orientation incorrectly. It happens on some laptop models where the camera module is mounted upside down by design and the driver is supposed to rotate it back.

Try these in order: restart; reinstall the camera driver (in Device Manager on Windows, choose Uninstall device and restart); install the latest driver from the laptop or webcam manufacturer, not only through Windows Update; roll back to the earlier driver if the problem started with an update.

Many external webcams have a utility with a Flip vertical or Rotate 180 degrees option. Some apps and virtual camera tools, such as OBS, can also flip or rotate a source. This works, but it hides the real cause, so treat it as a workaround and fix the driver if you can.

If you mount the camera upside down on purpose, for example hanging from a monitor top, use these options to correct the picture.

After each change, open a camera test page and look at the picture, including a piece of writing, to see whether it is right. If a fix works in the test and not in a call app, go back to that app's video settings, because it may keep its own setting.