How to Make a GIF from a Video in 3 Steps
- Upload the video in the converter above: MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, MKV and other common formats, up to 100 MB.
- Convert. The server turns the first 30 seconds into a GIF: 480 px wide, 10 frames per second, with a 256-color palette built from your clip.
- Download the GIF. It loops forever and plays in browsers, chat apps and email clients that support animated GIF.
Trim the video to the part you need before uploading. Anything after 30 seconds is cut off, and shorter clips give smaller GIFs.
Step 1: Choose Your Video File
Open the converter above and either drag and drop your MP4 file into the upload area, or click Choose File to browse your device. The converter accepts MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WebM, WMV, FLV, and other common video formats. Maximum file size is 100 MB.
If you're on iPhone or iPad, tap the file chooser and select a video from your Photos library or Files app. On Android, the file picker gives you access to your gallery, Downloads folder, and cloud storage.
Tip: For the best GIF results, use a short video clip (3–15 seconds). Longer videos produce very large GIF files because every frame is stored independently.
Step 2: Select Output Format
Make sure GIF is selected as the output format. The converter will extract frames from your video and assemble them into an animated GIF. All audio is discarded since GIF is an image-only format.
The converter on this page uses fixed settings that suit most GIFs:
- Width — 480 px, with the height scaled to keep the aspect ratio.
- Frame rate — 10 FPS. Most videos run at 24–30 FPS, but GIFs look fine at lower rates and stay much smaller.
- Length — the first 30 seconds of the video. Anything after that is cut off.
Step 3: Convert and Wait
Click the Convert button. Your file uploads to our server where FFmpeg takes 10 frames per second, builds a 256-color palette from your clip, maps every frame to it with Sierra-2 dithering, and assembles the frames into an animated GIF. Gifsicle then compresses the result.
Conversion time depends on file size and video duration:
- 5-second clip, 480p: typically 15–30 seconds
- 15-second clip, 720p: typically 30–60 seconds
- 30-second clip, 1080p: 1–3 minutes
The processing happens entirely on our server, so your device's speed doesn't matter. Just keep the browser tab open until conversion completes.
Step 4: Download Your GIF
When conversion finishes, a Download button appears with the file name and size. Click it to save the GIF to your device. The file is ready to share — it will play as an animation in any browser, messaging app, or image viewer that supports animated GIF.
Your uploaded file and the converted GIF are automatically deleted from our servers within 2 hours. No account or registration needed.
Tips for Smaller GIF Files
GIF files are inherently large because each frame is stored independently. Here are proven techniques to reduce file size:
| Technique | Size Reduction | Quality Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Lower resolution (720p → 320p) | 60–75% | Minimal at typical viewing sizes |
| Reduce FPS (24 → 10) | 50–60% | Slightly less smooth animation |
| Shorten duration (10s → 5s) | ~50% | None (just shorter clip) |
| Fewer colors (256 → 128) | 10–30% | More visible color banding |
| Crop the frame | Varies (often 30–60%) | None (fewer pixels = smaller file) |
The most effective approach is combining multiple techniques. A 10-second 720p GIF at 24 FPS might be 15 MB. Dropping to 320p, 10 FPS, and 5 seconds could reduce it to under 2 MB — well within social media limits.
Works on Every Device
The converter works in any modern web browser, and the conversion itself runs on our server. It works on:
- Windows — Chrome, Firefox, Edge
- Mac — Safari, Chrome, Firefox
- iPhone / iPad — Safari, Chrome
- Android — Chrome, Samsung Internet, Firefox
- Linux — any modern browser
No software installation, no plugins, no registration. Upload, convert, download.
What to Expect from the Output
The resulting GIF will differ from the original MP4 in several ways:
- No audio — GIF is a pure image format
- 256 colors — video has 16.7 million colors, so gradients and shadows will show some banding
- Larger file size — GIF’s compression is far less efficient than H.264, so the GIF is usually several times larger than the MP4
- Automatic looping — the GIF will loop continuously by default
For most use cases (social media, messaging, documentation), these tradeoffs are acceptable. The key advantage of GIF is universal support: it plays inline everywhere without requiring a video player.
How to Make a GIF from a Video on iPhone and Android
In the browser (any phone)
Open this page in Safari or Chrome, tap the upload area and pick a video from Photos, Files or your gallery. The GIF is made on our server, so older phones work too. Tap Download to save it.
iPhone: Shortcuts app
Apple’s Shortcuts app has ready-made GIF shortcuts in its Gallery (search for “GIF”). Add one, run it, pick a video or Live Photo and save the GIF to Photos.
Android
Some gallery apps, such as Samsung Gallery, have a GIF button in the video player. If yours does not, use the browser method above.
How to Export a Video as a GIF in Photoshop or FFmpeg
Photoshop
- Go to File → Import → Video Frames to Layers and choose the clip and the range to import.
- Delete or trim frames in the Timeline panel if needed.
- Export with File → Export → Save for Web (Legacy): choose GIF, set the colors and image size, and set Looping Options to Forever.
FFmpeg (command line)
This is the filter chain the converter on this page runs: ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=10,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,split[s0][s1];[s0]palettegen=max_colors=256:stats_mode=diff[p];[s1][p]paletteuse=dither=sierra2:diff_mode=rectangle" -t 30 -loop 0 output.gif. It then shrinks the file with gifsicle -O3 --lossy=80.