How to Write Upside Down: 8 Steps (with Pictures) (2024)

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Last Updated: March 12, 2020References

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   See Also

   Upside Down Text Generator — uʍop ǝpᴉsdn Flipping Text to Copy & PasteUpside Down Text Generator (ǝʇsɐꓒ ⅋ ʎdoꓛ) – Glyphy

   Use an online tool. Search online for an "upside down text generator," or visit upsidedowntext.com. Type into the text box, and these tools will display the same message upside down. You can copy-paste this into most word processors, email services, and social media sites.

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   Install an app on a mobile device. Search for "upside down text" on your smartphone or tablet. There are many apps available for Android, iOS, and Windows devices.

   • Look in the keyboards section of your device's app store if your first search doesn't succeed.

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   Troubleshoot. Your web browser or computer can't actually turn a letter upside down. Each upside down letter is a different symbol, which not all software will recognize. Here's the word "wikiHow" upside down: ʍoHᴉʞᴉʍ. If this just looks like question marks or boxes, try the following:

   • Update your web browser to the latest version.
   • If you can see upside down text on some websites but not others, use your browser's top menu to select View → Encoding → Unicode (or UTF-8, or UTF-16).^[1] You'll need to do this for each website.
   • If using an email system or non-browser software (such as an instant messaging client), you can try looking in the settings for encoding or language settings, and changing them to Unicode, UTF-8, or UTF-16. Not all programs will have this option.
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   Know the limitations. Many capital letters, numbers, and punctuation symbols do not have upside-down versions in Unicode, the standard text-handling system.

   • Some tools use clever tricks to get around this issue. For example, you can use M to imitate an upside-down capital W, or a comma to imitate an upside-down apostrophe.
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   Rotate an image instead. If all else fails, take a screen shot of ordinary text. Open the image in any editing program, rotate it 180º, then save it. You can only upload this as an image, not text.

   • In Windows 8, open the screenshot using Photos. Right-click the picture and select "Rotate."^[2] Rotate a second time to flip it upside down.
   • In Windows 7, open the screenshot using Windows Photo Viewer. Click one of the turning arrow symbols on the lower toolbar, then click again.^[3]
   • In Mac OS X, open the screenshot in Preview. Click the rotation button at the top of the screen twice. This may look like a turning arrow, or an arrow jumping over a square.

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   Choose a direction. Most people find it much easier to write upside down English from right to left, instead of left to right.^[4] This results in texts that looks normal if you turn the page upside-down. However, if you're right-handed, the right-to-left method can lead to smudging or discomfort. You can try writing sideways or at an angle instead, but this is more difficult to learn.^[5]

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   Practice. Teach yourself to write upside down the same way you learned to write regularly - by tracing the letters repeatedly and putting in lots of practice. Keep working on this, and you'll see your upside down penmanship improve.

   • Try practicing individual letters first. Once you have them down to muscle memory, start stringing them together in words and sentences. Move on to cursive if you're ambitious!
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   Make a mirror code. Take writing upside down one step further with a small hand mirror. Hold the mirror at a 90-degree angle to the paper, facing you. Now try writing such that your words are legible in the mirror. Your text will be not only upside down, but backwards, and will require a mirror to read easily.

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