How long can the GIF be?

Up to 20 seconds: if the part you choose is longer, the GIF is made from its first 20 seconds, and the page says so. A GIF stores every frame as a full picture with little compression, so a long one runs to tens of megabytes; for anything longer, a short MP4 is the better format, and the Video Converter or Video Cutter makes one.

How do I make the GIF smaller?

Make it shorter, narrower or slower: halving the length halves the file, 320 pixels wide is about half the size of 480, and 8 frames a second instead of 15 nearly halves it again. Busy, moving scenes with lots of detail make bigger GIFs than screen recordings or flat graphics.

Why do the colours look a little grainy?

A GIF can hold only 256 colours in each frame. Each frame gets its own best 256, which keeps most clips looking right, but smooth gradients such as skies and skin can show bands. That is a limit of the GIF format itself.

Does the GIF keep the sound?

No: GIF has no sound at all. To share a clip with its sound, keep it as an MP4, or to save only the sound use MP4 to MP3.

Can I make a GIF from an iPhone video?

Yes, where the browser can decode the video. iPhones record MOV files, usually in H.265 (HEVC): Safari on an iPhone, iPad or Mac decodes them, and so do Chrome and Edge on computers whose graphics chip decodes HEVC, but if a browser cannot, the page says so. Videos shot with the camera's Most Compatible setting (H.264) open everywhere.

Yes, it plays on a loop forever, as GIFs in chats and on web pages are expected to.

Is my video uploaded to make the GIF?

No. The video is opened and the GIF made in this browser tab on your device; nothing is sent to this site or anywhere else.

Stays on your computer How this works

Free video to GIF converter: MP4 to GIF online

Turn up to 20 seconds of an MP4, MOV or WebM video into a looping GIF, 320 to 640 pixels wide, with no watermark and nothing uploaded

Drag & drop a video here, or browse

Tap to choose a video

MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV, AVI, WMV, FLV, VOB, RealMedia, animated GIFs and audio files · nothing is uploaded

About this video to GIF converter

A GIF plays by itself, on a loop and without sound, almost anywhere a picture can go: a chat, a forum post, a README, an email, a slide, a support ticket showing what a bug looks like. Open a video, pick the few seconds you want, choose the width and the frame rate, and press Make GIF; you see the GIF in the page before you save it.

Each frame is taken from the video by your browser's own decoder at the frame rate you pick, given its own 256-colour palette, and written into the GIF by gifenc, a small open-source encoder that runs in the page. It is free to use, with no account and no upload limit, and it runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and while the page stays open, a feature you have already used keeps working offline.

What you can do

Convert MP4 to GIF, and MOV, M4V, WebM and MKV videos too
Choose the part: set the start and end, or use the here buttons while the video plays
Make the GIF 320, 480 or 640 pixels wide (never wider than the video), with the height kept in proportion
Pick 8, 12 or 15 frames a second
See the GIF in the page, with its size, before saving it
Open older videos (AVI, WMV, FLV, VOB, MPG, camcorder MTS) by converting them to MP4 first
No watermark, no sign-up

How to convert a video to GIF

Drop the video on the box, or click it to choose it. It opens in a player with the start and end below.
Tap the box and choose the video. It opens in a player with the start and end below.
Play to the moment the GIF should start and press the first here button, then to its end and press the second; or type the times.
GIF is already chosen: pick the width and frames per second, and press Make GIF.
Watch the GIF in the page, then save it. It is named after the video.

Questions

How long can the GIF be?: Up to 20 seconds: if the part you choose is longer, the GIF is made from its first 20 seconds, and the page says so. A GIF stores every frame as a full picture with little compression, so a long one runs to tens of megabytes; for anything longer, a short MP4 is the better format, and the Video Converter or Video Cutter makes one.
How do I make the GIF smaller?: Make it shorter, narrower or slower: halving the length halves the file, 320 pixels wide is about half the size of 480, and 8 frames a second instead of 15 nearly halves it again. Busy, moving scenes with lots of detail make bigger GIFs than screen recordings or flat graphics.
Why do the colours look a little grainy?: A GIF can hold only 256 colours in each frame. Each frame gets its own best 256, which keeps most clips looking right, but smooth gradients such as skies and skin can show bands. That is a limit of the GIF format itself.
Does the GIF keep the sound?: No: GIF has no sound at all. To share a clip with its sound, keep it as an MP4, or to save only the sound use MP4 to MP3.
Can I make a GIF from an iPhone video?: Yes, where the browser can decode the video. iPhones record MOV files, usually in H.265 (HEVC): Safari on an iPhone, iPad or Mac decodes them, and so do Chrome and Edge on computers whose graphics chip decodes HEVC, but if a browser cannot, the page says so. Videos shot with the camera's Most Compatible setting (H.264) open everywhere.
Does the GIF loop?: Yes, it plays on a loop forever, as GIFs in chats and on web pages are expected to.
Is my video uploaded to make the GIF?: No. The video is opened and the GIF made in this browser tab on your device; nothing is sent to this site or anywhere else.

To turn a GIF back into a small video, use GIF to MP4, and for animated WebP pictures, WebP to GIF. To cut, compress or convert the video itself, use the Video Converter.