Why your usual preview is mirrored
Video apps flip your self-view left to right, like a bathroom mirror, because that is the face you know. Microsoft explained in 2022 that it kept mirroring on by default in Teams because most of us are used to seeing ourselves mirrored, as with a phone’s front camera. The camera itself doesn’t flip anything: the people on the call get the real picture, which is what this page shows.
What to check in the un-mirrored preview
- Text. A book spine, a poster, a logo on your shirt or words in a virtual background read correctly here. In a mirrored self-view they read backwards to you, but not to anyone else. Teachers writing on a whiteboard see the same effect.
- Left and right. Your hair parting, a lamp or window on one side, and the arm you point with all appear on the side other people see them. If you plan to point at something on your screen or behind you, check which way it looks here.
- Your face. If you look odd to yourself, that’s familiarity, not the camera: in a 1977 study, people preferred their mirror image while their friends preferred the true one.
Press Mirror to flip between the two views; the label on the video says which one you’re looking at. The resolution, frame rate and image quality checks work the same either way.
Turning mirroring off in other apps
- Zoom: Settings, then Video & effects, then Mirror my video preview. Zoom says it only affects how you see your video.
- Microsoft Teams: Microsoft’s guide for Teams Free puts Mirror my video under Settings, then Devices, and in a meeting under Video effects and settings, and notes that changing it only changes the view for you.
- Google Meet: Google says your background appears mirrored in your self view while others see the correct orientation. At the time of writing, Meet’s help pages describe no switch to un-mirror it.
- Chromebook Camera app: select Mirroring to flip the picture.
- Mac Photo Booth: Edit, then Flip Photo for one picture, or Auto Flip New Items for every new photo and video.
- iPhone: Settings, then Camera, then Mirror Front Camera saves selfies as you see them in the frame instead of reversed.
Windows 11’s own camera settings (Settings, Bluetooth & devices, Cameras) offer brightness, contrast, rotation and effects, but no mirror option, so on Windows the switch lives in each app.