MOV to GIF Converter

A GIF starts by itself, repeats endlessly and needs no player, which is why it works inside chat threads, help articles, forum posts and slides where a video would have to be clicked. It suits very short moments, so the trim start and end fields are the first thing to set: two to five seconds is about right. For anything longer, sharing the video itself is the better choice.

It stops being a video in every sense. The frames are stored as plain pictures rather than compressed against one another, there is no audio track at all, and there are no player controls — no play button, no pause, no timeline. It simply repeats, and it repeats forever unless you enter a number of loops.

Choose your video before looking for this box: the trim fields open in the editor, under the player you can scrub to the moment you want.

Enter the moment you want the result to begin, in hours, minutes, seconds and hundredths. Leaving it at all zeros means no trim at the start, so the file begins at the beginning.

• All zeros - keep the file from the very start
• A specific time - skipping an intro, a countdown, silence or throat-clearing before the content begins
• Slightly before your intended point - a small margin avoids clipping the first word

Yes - always from the start of the original, written as hours, minutes, seconds and then fractions of a second. So 00:00:15.00 begins fifteen seconds in, regardless of any other trimming you have set. The matching end setting uses the same reference point, which is why the end value must be later than the start.

Because the editor shows a player alongside these fields, you can find the moment first and read the time off it.

The frame rate lives in the Optimize GIF panel, which appears once your video is open in the editor.

Around 15 is recommended and looks acceptably smooth for most things while keeping the file manageable. Go lower to save space when the action is slow, and higher only when the movement is fast and you can afford a much larger file.

• 5 to 10 - slow movement, screen recordings and long clips where size matters most
• 15 - the recommended everyday choice for reaction clips and social sharing
• 20 to 25 - fast action or sport, at a considerable cost in file size

Add your video first - the loop field appears in the editor with the rest of the GIF options.

Leaving it empty, or entering 0, makes it loop forever, which is what people usually expect from a short animation. Set a specific number when the animation tells a story with a definite ending and you want it to stop there.

• 0 or empty - reaction clips, logos and short loops shared on social media or in chat
• 1 - plays once and stops, good for a sequence with a clear conclusion
• 2 to 5 - repeats a few times so it can be caught, then settles on the last frame

This is a checkbox in the editor rather than anything on this page, so load your clip and it will be adjustable.

Only turn it on if your source video actually contains see-through areas, which is uncommon - most video has a solid picture edge to edge. It is worth enabling for footage exported from an animation or effects tool with a clear background.

• On - animated logos, stickers, overlays and effects clips with a clear background
• Off - ordinary video from a camera, a phone or a screen recording

You reach these boxes by choosing a file; they sit in the editor's GIF options, below the trim fields.

Enter the pixel size that matches where the video is going, and leave one box empty if you want the proportions kept automatically. Matching a standard size is usually wise, since players and platforms handle familiar dimensions best.

• 1920 by 1080 - the everyday standard for YouTube, Vimeo and TV playback
• 1280 by 720 - a lighter option for messaging, email and older devices
• 1080 by 1920 - the upright shape used by stories, reels and short-video feeds

The switch is in the Optimize GIF panel of the editor, the step that follows choosing a file.

Turn it on when most of the frame stays put and only a small part moves, because the available colours are then concentrated where they will be noticed. Leave it off when the whole scene changes constantly, since there is no still background to take advantage of.

• On - screen recordings, fixed-camera footage, talking heads and animations with a static backdrop
• Off - panning shots, handheld footage and scenes where the camera or background moves

The slider is not on this page. Upload a clip and it appears in the editor, in the Optimize GIF panel.

The default is a sound balance and a good place to start. Drag right when the file is still too large for where you are posting it, and drag left when the picture looks speckled or grainy and quality matters more than size.

• Lower values - short clips, or animations where clean detail matters
• The default (10) - a good balance for most animations
• Higher values - long or large animations that must meet a strict upload limit