Video to GIF converter

FileReshape's video to GIF converter turns up to 60 seconds of an MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV video into an animated GIF with FFmpeg inside your browser. The video is not uploaded. You choose the start, length, width and frames per second. GIFs have no sound and at most 256 colours per frame, so they are much larger than the video.

Drop your video file here or click to choose

Did a file not convert correctly? E-mail [email protected], ideally with a small sample file, and it will be fixed.

Key facts

Input: MP4 (.mp4). Output: GIF (.gif).
Your files are not uploaded: the work is done in your browser, on your own device.
File size: up to 2 GB per file (the limit of the browser's WebAssembly memory).
Needs a current browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari) on a computer, tablet or phone; nothing to install.
Free to use, with no sign-up.

Why turn a video into a GIF

A GIF plays by itself everywhere: in emails, chat apps, forum posts, documentation, slides and README files, without a play button and without sound. This tool cuts the part of a video you choose and turns it into an animated GIF in your browser with FFmpeg. It calculates an optimised colour palette for the clip, so screen recordings stay sharp and video looks better than with a fixed palette, and frames that do not change are stored efficiently. Pick the start time and the length, a width of 320 to 800 pixels and 8 to 20 frames per second. Short, small GIFs load fast; for anything longer, a video is the better format. Your video is never uploaded, so screen recordings of internal tools and private clips stay on your device.

How to make a GIF from a video

Drop the video in the box, or click to choose it.
Type the start time and the length, and choose the width and frames per second.
Click Make GIF; preview it and save the GIF.

What to know about GIFs

GIFs are large

GIF compresses moving pictures badly: a few seconds can be several megabytes, much more than the same part as MP4. Keep GIFs short, use 480 pixels or less for chat and email, and 10 frames per second is smooth enough for most clips.

Colours and photos

Each frame can only use 256 colours. Screen recordings, animations and drawings look good; camera footage with skies and skin tones gets visible dithering. That is a limit of the format, not of the converter.

No sound

GIF cannot hold sound. If the sound matters, send the video, or cut it as MP4 instead.

Start and length

Type the start as seconds (12.5) or minutes and seconds (1:05). The length is limited to 60 seconds because longer GIFs become too large to send or open comfortably.

About the formats

MP4

MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) is the most common video file format. Phones, cameras, YouTube, WhatsApp and every computer and TV use it. An MP4 is a container: the picture inside is usually compressed with H.264 or H.265 (HEVC) and the sound with AAC, and the same file can also hold subtitles, chapters and a cover image.

The format was standardised in 2003 and is based on Apple's QuickTime format, which is why MP4 and MOV files are so alike.
H.264 video with AAC sound plays on practically every device made in the last 15 years.
A minute of phone video in 1080p is typically 100–200 MB; in 4K it is often 350–500 MB.
The "faststart" layout puts the index at the beginning, so a video can start playing before it is fully downloaded.

GIF

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and is still everywhere for short animations, stickers and simple web graphics. Every frame is limited to a palette of 256 colours, which suits logos and drawings but makes photos look grainy.

At most 256 colours per frame; photos get visible banding or dithering.
Transparency is all or nothing: a pixel is either fully transparent or fully opaque.
One file can hold many frames with their own delays, which is how GIF animations work.

Frequently asked questions

Is my video uploaded?

No. FFmpeg runs as WebAssembly in your browser and makes the GIF on your own device.

How can I make the GIF smaller?

Make it shorter, narrower or with fewer frames per second. The GIF compressor on this site can also reduce the number of colours of a finished GIF.

Will the GIF loop?

Yes, the GIF repeats endlessly, as most chat apps and browsers expect.

Which videos can I use?

MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV, AVI and 3GP videos from phones, cameras and screen recorders.