# How do you lock an Adalo app to portrait or landscape?

Set an Adalo app to portrait, landscape, or automatic rotation from App Settings, then verify the choice on the devices your release supports.

- Canonical URL: https://adalocado.com/answers/set-adalo-app-screen-orientation
- Verification: Documented from current sources
- Topic: Responsive Design
- Skill level: Beginner
- Last reviewed: 2026-09-03
- Index status: index-now

## Short answer

Open App Settings in the Adalo editor, find App Orientation, and choose Portrait Only, Landscape Only, or Portrait and Landscape for automatic device rotation.

Adalo now includes App Orientation controls in the editor's Settings. The current official guide documents portrait-only, landscape-only, and automatic rotation choices. This Answer turns that setting into a short implementation and test workflow while keeping the evidence limits clear.

## Intended outcome

The app uses one documented orientation policy that matches its layout and can be checked before release.

## Requirements

- An Adalo app open in the editor
- A test device or device preview that can be rotated
- Screens designed for every orientation you intend to allow

## Step by step

1. **Open the app settings**

   Open the main menu on the left side of the Adalo editor and select Settings. This is an app-wide configuration, not a component setting.

2. **Find App Orientation**

   Scroll through Settings until you reach the App Orientation controls.

3. **Choose the orientation policy**

   Select Portrait Only to keep the app vertical, Landscape Only to keep it horizontal, or Portrait and Landscape to let the app follow device rotation.

4. **Test every allowed layout**

   Preview the app and rotate a test device through each allowed orientation. Check navigation, scrolling, forms, lists, media, and tap targets before releasing a new build.

## Why it works

- App Orientation is an app-level setting, so one choice governs how the app presents itself across screens.
- Portrait and Landscape allows rotation, while either single-orientation option intentionally locks the app to that direction.

## Common failures

### The app does not rotate after selecting Portrait and Landscape

Confirm the device orientation lock is off, reopen the preview or test build, and test a screen whose layout can visibly change between portrait and landscape.

### Content clips or overlaps in the newly allowed orientation

Review the affected screen's responsive layout, including component widths, heights, groups, anchoring, and scrolling. The orientation setting does not redesign a screen automatically.

## Testing checklist

- [ ] With Portrait Only or Landscape Only selected, rotate the device and confirm the app stays in the chosen direction.
- [ ] With Portrait and Landscape selected and device orientation lock off, rotate the device both ways and confirm the layout remains usable.
- [ ] The selected option matches the intended portrait, landscape, or rotating behavior
- [ ] Every allowed orientation keeps navigation and primary actions usable
- [ ] Lists, forms, media, and scroll regions remain readable on a physical test device
- [ ] The release build is tested again before submission to an app store

## Limitations

- The official guide documents an app-wide setting and does not document different orientation rules for individual screens.
- This Answer is based on current Adalo documentation and staff guidance; the workflow was not reproduced in a native release build during this review.
- Allowing both orientations does not repair fixed-size or overlapping screen layouts, so each supported direction still needs testing.

## Community evidence

### [Option to force screen orientation to either portrait by default or landscape](https://forum.adalo.com/t/option-to-force-screen-orientation-to-either-portrait-by-default-or-landscape/65188/9)

The accepted staff reply points builders to Adalo's official App Orientation Settings after years of workaround discussion. Boundary: The accepted reply is a documentation pointer and does not report hands-on testing or platform-specific release behavior.

## Sources

- [Adalo Help: App Orientation Settings](https://help.adalo.com/settings/app-orientation-settings)
- [Adalo forum accepted staff answer](https://forum.adalo.com/t/option-to-force-screen-orientation-to-either-portrait-by-default-or-landscape/65188/9)

Markdown version: https://adalocado.com/answers/set-adalo-app-screen-orientation.md