A good GIF is a small loop that says one thing. A reaction, a quick demo, a funny second from a longer clip. Getting that loop out of a video usually means installing software or sending your footage to a stranger's server.
This video to GIF tool does it inside your browser tab, whether you are turning an MP4 to GIF or starting from a MOV or WebM. You drag out the part you want, choose how smooth and how wide it should be, and press Make GIF. The video stays on your computer the whole time.
Below you will find how each control changes the result, how to keep the file small enough to share, and answers to the questions people ask most.
How to make a GIF from a video, step by step
The whole job takes a minute or two for a short clip. You do not need an account, and the GIF has no watermark.
- Drop your video onto the page, or choose it with the file picker. You can add several videos if you want a GIF from each one.
- Play the video and find the moment you want. Set Start and End by typing a time, or press the Playhead button next to each field to take the time from where the video is now.
- Choose Smoothness: 5, 10, 12 or 15 fps.
- Choose Width: 320, 480 or 640 px.
- Check the three figures under the controls: Length, Frames and Size.
- Press Make GIF, then save the file. With several videos, you can download all the GIFs as one ZIP.
Picking the part to loop
A GIF can be up to 30 seconds long. The End field reminds you that it is at most 30 seconds after the Start. Most GIFs that people actually enjoy are much shorter, often two to six seconds.
While you work, the preview loops the part you picked, the way the finished GIF will. That is a quick way to check that the loop does not cut off mid-gesture.
What the three figures tell you
Length shows the span you chose against the 30 second maximum. Frames is the number of pictures the GIF will contain. Size is an estimate of the finished file, shown with an approximate sign because the real size depends on how much changes from frame to frame.
Choosing smoothness and width for a video to GIF conversion
A GIF is a stack of still pictures shown one after another. More pictures per second look smoother. Wider pictures look sharper. Both make the file bigger, so every GIF is a trade between looks and weight.
| Setting | Options | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Smoothness 5 fps | Fewest frames | Turning a screen recording to GIF, slide shows, the smallest files |
| Smoothness 10 fps | Light motion | Short reactions where file size matters |
| Smoothness 12 fps | Balanced | Most clips. A sensible place to start |
| Smoothness 15 fps | Smoothest | Fast action, sport, quick camera moves |
| Width 320 px | Smallest | Chat stickers, email, tight limits |
| Width 480 px | Medium | Social posts, forum replies, most uses |
| Width 640 px | Largest | Detail that must stay readable, such as text on a screen |
The Width control never goes wider than the video itself. If your clip is only 400 px wide, the larger options are switched off, because stretching a small picture only makes it blurry and heavier. The smallest width always stays available.
How to reduce GIF size
GIF is an old format, and it stores pictures far less efficiently than modern video. A short GIF can weigh more than the video it came from. When the estimate under the controls goes above 15 MB, the tool shows a warning: "That is a heavy GIF. Shorten it, or lower the width or smoothness."
Those are the three levers, and you can combine them:
- Shorten the span. Halving the length roughly halves the size.
- Drop the width a step, for example from 640 to 480.
- Lower the smoothness, for example from 15 fps to 10 fps.
Watch the Size figure as you change each one. It updates as you go, so you can stop as soon as the number is comfortable.
MP4 to GIF, MOV to GIF and more, without an upload
MP4 to GIF, MOV to GIF and WebM to GIF all work the same way: drop the file, pick the part, press Make GIF. The tool also takes MKV, AVI, WMV, M4V, TS, FLV and MPG files. A few of them take longer to read, and those can be up to 2 GB. A GIF has no sound, so the audio is left out; to keep it, save it on its own with MP4 to MP3. To keep a video but drop its sound, remove audio from video instead.
A typical online MP4 to GIF converter uploads your clip, works on it on a server and sends the result back, so a copy of your footage sits somewhere you cannot see. Here the work happens on your own computer. The video is never uploaded, and the server does no video work at all. You can read more on the privacy page.
- A free GIF maker, with no account and no watermark.
- Video tools are not counted in the free daily limit, which applies to document conversions only.
- Most videos have no size limit. Some files, such as certain AVI or WMV videos, take longer and can be up to 2 GB.
- It works in current Chrome, Edge and Firefox.
Tips for a GIF that loops well
When you make a GIF from a video, a few small habits make a big difference to how a GIF feels when it repeats.
- Start and end on a similar pose or position, so the jump back to the beginning is less obvious.
- Keep it short. A long GIF is just a bad video.
- Avoid fades and gradients where you can. Smooth colour changes are the hardest thing for GIF to hold, and they add weight.
- Choose the width for where it will be seen. A chat window needs far fewer pixels than a blog header.
If your clip is too heavy even at 320 px and 5 fps, share it as a short video instead. Kept as video, the same moment is usually far smaller, and compress video for email or the Discord video compressor shrinks it further.
Making GIFs from many videos at once
Add more than one video and the button changes to say how many GIFs it will make. Each video gets its own GIF, using the same Smoothness and Width. If a queued video is shorter than your range, its GIF simply ends where the video ends. A video that finishes before the range even starts cannot make a GIF, and the tool tells you so.
Need still pictures instead?
If you want single frames rather than motion, use Video to images. It saves pictures as PNG or JPG, either at one moment or at a steady interval. The MP4 to JPG and MP4 to PNG pages open it already set to that format.
Already have a GIF and want one picture out of it? GIF to frames splits it into separate PNG, JPG or WebP files.
Make your GIF now
Pick the moment, set Smoothness and Width, watch the Size figure, and keep the loop short. That is all a video to GIF conversion takes, and the result is easy to share.
Drop your video into the tool above and press Make GIF. This GIF maker keeps the file on your computer, it is free, and there is no watermark. To build a GIF from photos instead of a clip, use pictures to GIF.
