Skip to content

Video to GIF Converter – Turn a Clip into an Animated GIF

Pick a moment from any MP4, MOV or WebM video and turn it into a looping GIF with sharp, accurate colours. Everything happens on your device, so the video is never uploaded.

How to make a GIF from a video

  1. Add your video. Drag an MP4, MOV, WebM or MKV file onto the box above, or tap it to choose a video from your phone or computer.
  2. Pick the moment. Type the Start time in seconds (12.5) or minutes and seconds (1:05), or play the video, pause where the GIF should begin and press Start at the current frame. Then set the Length, up to 15 seconds.
  3. Choose the look. Pick a Frame rate of 10, 15 or 20 fps, a Width of 320, 480 or 640 px (or keep the original), and under Loop decide whether the GIF plays forever, once or a set number of times.
  4. Press Make GIF. The first time, the video converter downloads once (about 31 MB). A progress bar shows the colour analysis and then the GIF being drawn; you can cancel at any time.
  5. Preview and download. The finished GIF plays right on the page with its file size and dimensions. Press Download GIF to save it.

Features

  • Two-pass colour palette: the clip is analysed first so the GIF uses the 256 colours that fit it best, then frames are drawn with a fine ordered dither for smooth gradients.
  • Precise clip selection by typed start time or by pausing the video preview on the frame you want.
  • Three frame rates and four widths, with smaller videos never stretched beyond their real size.
  • Loop control: loop forever, play once, or play two, three or five times.
  • Live progress and a Cancel button, plus a friendly message if a file can't be read or your device runs out of memory.
  • Instant preview with the final file size, and a clear warning when a GIF is over 10 MB.

Why use Fileora to make GIFs

Most online GIF makers upload your whole video to their server, make you wait in a queue and then stamp their logo across the corner. Fileora converts the clip on your own device. Your video never leaves your computer or phone, there's no watermark, no account and no daily limit, and it works in current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.

The quality is also better than many quick converters. Reaction GIFs, product demos, short tutorials and funny moments from your own recordings keep their colours instead of turning into blotchy bands, because the palette is built from your actual footage.

Why GIFs get big – and how to keep them small

GIF is a format from 1987. It has no modern video compression, so each frame is stored almost like a separate image. That's why a GIF is often ten times larger than the same clip as an MP4. A few simple choices keep the size under control:

  • Keep it short. Two to six seconds is plenty for a reaction or a loop, and every extra second adds frames.
  • Lower the frame rate. 10 fps is fine for talking heads and slow scenes; save 20 fps for fast motion.
  • Shrink the width. 480 px looks sharp in chats and on most web pages; 320 px is ideal for small stickers and email.
  • Trim first if you like. If your video is long, you can cut the section out first with Trim Video, or make a sped-up version with Change Video Speed so more action fits into a few seconds.

Once your GIF is ready you can also add captions to a still frame with the Meme Generator.

Frequently asked questions

How do I turn a video into a GIF?

Drop your video into the box above, then set the start time and the length of the clip (up to 15 seconds). Choose a frame rate, a width and how often the GIF should loop, and press Make GIF. When it's done you can watch the GIF on the page and download it.

Why is the GIF limited to 15 seconds?

A GIF stores every frame as a separate picture with no video compression, so the file grows very quickly: a long clip can easily reach 50 MB or more, which most sites and chat apps won't accept. Making it also happens in your browser's memory, and very long clips can run out of memory, especially on phones. For longer clips, keep the video as a video.

Is my video uploaded to a server?

No. The GIF is made inside your browser with a WebAssembly build of FFmpeg. Your video is read from your device and converted in memory, and nothing is sent to our servers.

How can I make my GIF smaller?

Three settings matter most. A shorter clip has fewer frames, 10 fps stores a third fewer frames than 15 fps, and a smaller width shrinks every frame: 320 px has less than half the pixels of 480 px. Scenes with little movement also compress better than busy ones.

Why do the colours look so good compared with other GIF makers?

A GIF can only use 256 colours. Instead of a generic palette, the converter first scans your clip and picks the 256 colours that suit it best, then draws each frame with that palette and a fine dither pattern. That keeps skin tones, skies and gradients much closer to the original.

Does the GIF keep the sound?

No. The GIF format has no audio, so the sound of the video is left out. If you need a short clip with sound, trim the video and keep it as MP4 instead.

Which video formats can I use?

MP4, MOV (including iPhone videos), M4V, WebM and MKV files work. If your browser can play the video, you can also scrub through it on the page to find the exact start frame.

Related tools

Can't find the tool you need, or something isn't working?

Tell us which tool you'd like next or what went wrong. We read every message, and requests decide what we build next.

Request a toolReport a problem

Opens your email app. Please don't attach private files.