Video to GIF converter
Turn an MP4, MOV or WebM into a GIF right here in your browser. Free, no watermark, files up to 2 GB, and your video never leaves your computer.
Your video never leaves your computer. Nothing is uploaded.
A free tool from Spark, the video reference library for creative teams.
How to convert a video to a GIF
Five steps, about a minute, no account.
Drop in your video
Drag an MP4, MOV, WebM or M4V onto the box above, or click it to choose a file. It opens straight from your disk, so 2 GB is as quick as 20 MB.
Trim the moment
Drag the two handles on the timeline, or type exact times, to pick up to 30 seconds. Then nudge the in and out points a frame at a time with the arrow buttons, or comma and full stop, until the loop lands exactly. Press Play clip to check it.
Pick a width and frame rate
480 px wide at 15 fps suits most decks, Slack threads and moodboards. Go to 640 or 800 px for a full-width slide, and 320 px for an email.
Choose a quality
Balanced suits most footage. Small is for tight file limits, and Best is for skies, smoke and skin tones that band easily.
Convert and download
Press Convert to GIF. It's built on your computer, frame by frame, then it's yours to download.
What makes a good GIF
GIF is a format from 1987 doing a 2026 job. It shows 256 colours at most and compresses like it's still on dial-up, so every setting you pick shows up in the file size. These are the numbers we work to.
Length
2 to 6 s
Long enough to read the move, short enough to loop. A 25 second GIF is a video that lost its controls.
Frame rate
12 to 15 fps
Smooth enough, with 37 percent fewer frames than 24. Use 10 for screen recordings.
Width
480 to 640 px
Decks show most GIFs at half a slide or less. Double the width and the file roughly quadruples.
Palette
256 colours
The hard ceiling. Skies, smoke and skin band first, which is what dithering is for.
In practice, a 16:9 GIF at 480 px and 15 fps costs half a megabyte to a megabyte per second, and a 9:16 clip about three times that. Motion matters too: only changed pixels are stored, so a tripod shot comes out far smaller than a handheld one. The long version: how to turn a video into a GIF without losing quality.
Supported formats
If your browser can play it, it can convert it. That covers most files, with a few honest exceptions.
- MP4 (H.264)
- Works everywhere. The safe bet, and what to export if anything else fails.
- MOV
- Newer iPhones shoot HEVC (H.265): Safari opens it on any recent Mac, Chrome and Edge on most recent computers.
- ProRes
- Rarely decodes in a browser (Safari on a Mac sometimes manages). Export an H.264 MP4 first.
- WebM
- Plays in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, and in recent versions of Safari.
- M4V
- Same as MP4, unless it's a copy-protected iTunes purchase.
- MKV and AVI
- Hit and miss. Chrome often opens MKV; AVI rarely plays anywhere. Re-export as MP4 if it refuses.
Working from a Mac or a PC and want other routes? There are step-by-step guides for converting MP4 to GIF on a Mac and converting MP4 to GIF on Windows, and one for exporting a GIF straight from Premiere Pro.
Why use this converter
Most online converters upload your file to their server, put you in a queue and hand back a GIF with their logo in the corner. This one runs on your own computer instead, which changes a few things.
Nothing is uploaded
Your video never leaves your machine, which matters for an unreleased cut or a client's footage under NDA. Watch the network tab while it converts if you like.
No watermark, no account
Download the GIF and go. No sign-up, no logo stamped on frame one.
Files up to 2 GB
Nothing crosses the internet, so a 2 GB camera file opens as quickly as a phone clip.
Free, properly
No trial, no daily limit, no premium frame rates. It costs us next to nothing to run.
The trade-off is speed: it's only as quick as your computer. A short 480 px GIF takes a few seconds, while 30 seconds at 1080 px and 24 fps can take a couple of minutes. Keep the tab in front while it works.
Tips for decks and moodboards
Learned the hard way, mostly the night before a pitch.
Size for the slot, not the screen. A GIF in a quarter-slide box only needs 480 px. Go up to 800 or 1080 only when it fills the slide.
Keep each GIF under 10 MB if the deck gets emailed. Gmail caps attachments at 25 MB, and three heavy GIFs get you there fast.
Match settings across a board. One width and one frame rate for every GIF stops the odd one out looking jittery.
Name files like you'll need them in March. "Wong Kar-wai hallway, step printing.gif" still means something in six months. "IMG_4471.gif" never did.
Keep the original. A GIF is a preview, not an archive. Save the source and where it came from, or you'll be hunting for it at 9am on pitch day.
That last one is why Spark exists: it saves references from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Vimeo into one searchable library, with a link back to every original. If your GIF started life as a Reel or a YouTube video, those guides cover the getting-hold-of-it part.
More GIF guides
Browse every guide on the Spark blogVideo to GIF questions
How do I convert a video to a GIF for free?
Drop the video into the converter at the top of this page, pick up to 30 seconds on the timeline, choose a width and frame rate, then press Convert to GIF. It's free, with no watermark and no account.
Is this converter safe? Does my video get uploaded?
Your video is never uploaded. The converter runs inside your browser, so the whole job happens on your own computer and nothing is sent to Spark or anyone else. That makes it fine for unreleased edits and footage under NDA.
What is the maximum video size and GIF length?
Videos can be up to 2 GB. The GIF itself is capped at 30 seconds (15 seconds of footage at half speed), because GIFs grow quickly: 30 seconds at 640 px and 15 fps can pass 30 MB. For anything longer, a muted MP4 is the better format.
How do I convert an MP4 to a GIF on iPhone?
Open this page in Safari, tap the drop box and choose a video from Photos or Files. Trim it, convert it, then tap Download GIF: it lands in the Downloads folder of the Files app. Phones are slower than laptops, so start at 480 px and 12 fps.
Why is my GIF so big?
GIF is a 1980s format with weak compression, so the file grows with every pixel and every frame. Width is the biggest lever: halving it cuts the file by roughly three quarters. Then clip length, then frame rate. Our guide to reducing GIF file size goes through every trick.
Can I convert a YouTube video to a GIF?
Yes, if you have the video file and the right to use it. This tool converts files on your computer; it doesn't download from YouTube, whose terms only allow downloads through its own features. Our guide to making a GIF from a YouTube video covers the options.
Does it add a watermark?
No. There's no watermark, no logo in the corner and no "made with" frame at the end. The GIF is yours.
Which video formats can I convert to GIF?
MP4, MOV, WebM and M4V work in every modern browser, as long as it can decode the codec inside. MKV and AVI depend on the browser. If a file won't open, it's usually HEVC or ProRes: try Safari or Chrome, or export an H.264 MP4 from your editor first.
Can I make a GIF from an Instagram Reel?
Yes, once you have the video file: drop it in like any other. Getting the file is the fiddly part, and only use Reels you have permission to use. Our guide to making a GIF from an Instagram Reel walks through it.
Does it work on Mac and Windows?
Yes. It runs in Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox on Mac, Windows, Linux and ChromeOS, with nothing to install. Keep the tab in front while it converts: browsers slow background tabs down, so it pauses until you come back.
Save the reference, not just the GIF
Spark is the video reference library for creative teams, built by a London production company tired of losing references in DMs and Slack threads. Paste a link or DM a video to Spark on Instagram, and it's saved, tagged and searchable by what's in the shot.
Free plan with 15 videos and 1 GB, no card. Mac and Windows.