screen.lockOrientation

The lockOrientation method locks the screen into the specified orientation.

Syntax

lockedAllowed = window.screen.lockOrientation(orientation);

Parameters

orientation

The orientation into which to lock the screen. This is either a string or an array of strings. Passing several strings lets the screen rotate only in the selected orientations.

The following strings represent the possible orientation requirements you may specify.

portrait-primary

It represents the orientation of the screen when it is in its primary portrait mode. A screen is considered in its primary portrait mode if the device is held in its normal position and that position is in portrait, or if the normal position of the device is in landscape and the device held turned by 90° clockwise. The normal position is device dependant.

portrait-secondary

It represents the orientation of the screen when it is in its secondary portrait mode. A screen is considered in its secondary portrait mode if the device is held 180° from its normal position and that position is in portrait, or if the normal position of the device is in landscape and the device held is turned by 90° anticlockwise. The normal position is device dependant.

landscape-primary

It represents the orientation of the screen when it is in its primary landscape mode. A screen is considered in its primary landscape mode if the device is held in its normal position and that position is in landscape, or if the normal position of the device is in portrait and the device held is turned by 90° clockwise. The normal position is device dependant.

landscape-secondary

It represents the orientation of the screen when it is in its secondary landscape mode. A screen is considered in its secondary landscape mode if the device held is 180° from its normal position and that position is in landscape, or if the normal position of the device is in portrait and the device held is turned by 90° anticlockwise. The normal position is device dependant.

portrait

It represents both portrait-primary and portrait-secondary.

landscape

It represents both landscape-primary and landscape-secondary.

default

It represents either portrait-primary and landscape-primary depends on natural orientation of devices. For example, if the panel resolution is 1280*800, default will make it landscape, if the resolution is 800*1280, default will make it to portrait.

Return value

Returns true if the orientation was authorized to be locked or false if the orientation locking was denied. Note that the returns value doesn't indicate that the screen orientation is indeed locked: there may be a delay.

Examples

Usage with a DOMString argument

screen.lockOrientationUniversal = screen.lockOrientation || screen.mozLockOrientation || screen.msLockOrientation;

if (screen.lockOrientationUniversal("landscape-primary")) {
  // orientation was locked
} else {
  // orientation lock failed
}

Usage with an Array argument

screen.lockOrientationUniversal = screen.lockOrientation || screen.mozLockOrientation || screen.msLockOrientation;

if (screen.lockOrientationUniversal(["landscape-primary", "landscape-secondary"])) {
  // orientation was locked
} else {
  // orientation lock failed
}

Specifications

Browser compatibility

[1] A similar method is implemented using a newer standard syntax (screen.orientation.lock) and returns a Promise. While it exists on desktop, it will always fail.

[2] This API is only implemented as a prefixed method (screen.mozLockOrientation) in Firefox OS and Firefox for Android. Also, due to bug 966480, it does not work in Firefox for Android.

[3] This method is implemented using a prefix (screen.msLockOrientation) in Internet Explorer for Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1. It is not supported on Windows 7.

See also

• Screen.orientation
• Screen.unlockOrientation()
• Screen.onorientationchange
• Managing screen orientation