MP4 to GIF

What it does

Converts an MP4 video, or part of one, into an animated GIF. Pick the few seconds you want, crop the picture, and choose the width and frame rate; the GIF is made on your own device.

How to use it

1. Choose your MP4, or drop it onto the page.
2. Drag the Trim handles to the part you want. Short is better: a GIF grows quickly with every second.
3. Set the width and frame rate, and crop if you want to.
4. Press Make GIF, then Download GIF.

This page is the Video to GIF tool, which takes WebM and MOV files in exactly the same way.

Questions

Why turn an MP4 into a GIF?

A GIF plays by itself, in a loop, anywhere a picture can go: a chat message, an email, a README, a bug report. An MP4 needs a player and, in many of those places, cannot be embedded at all.

Will the GIF look as good as the MP4?

Not quite. A GIF holds at most 256 colours in a frame, so smooth gradients and skin tones show some banding. Screen recordings, diagrams and anything with flat colour come out close to the original.

My MP4 will not open. Why?

MP4 is a container, and what matters is the video inside it. H.264, which almost every phone, camera and screen recorder writes, plays in every browser. H.265 (HEVC) plays only where the device supports it. If yours does not open here, try it in Safari or Edge, or export it again as H.264.

Is the MP4 uploaded?

No. It is converted in your browser and never leaves your device.