A mobile terminal and controlling method thereof are disclosed, by which an external terminal can be controlled easily and intuitively. The present invention includes a touchscreen, a wireless communication unit configured to transceive data with an external terminal, a sensing unit configured to detect a rotation of the mobile terminal, a user input unit configured to receive an input of a gesture command from a user, and a controller controlling the external terminal in 1st operating mode based on the received input of the gesture command, the controller controlling the touchscreen to output at least one control button for controlling the external terminal in 2nd operating mode, the controller switching the 1st operating mode and the 2nd operating mode to each other based on the detected rotation.