Video to GIF Converter

Turn any video into a GIF in seconds

A good video to GIF converter should do one thing well: take the few seconds you care about and turn them into a small, looping animation you can drop into a chat, a slide deck, a bug report or a blog post. VidHaul does exactly that, and it does it without uploading your file. You choose a clip, set where it starts and ends, pick a width and a frame rate, and the GIF is built right inside your browser.

Because nothing is sent to a server, there is no waiting for an upload, no queue and no account. It is also why the tool is free, adds no watermark and has no daily limit. It works in up-to-date Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox on a computer, and in Chrome or Safari on a phone.

How to make a GIF from a video

1. Choose your video. Click the box above or drag a file onto it. MP4, MOV, WebM, MKV and most other formats work.
2. Pick the moment. By default the first 5 seconds are used. Type a start and end time in seconds, or play the preview and press “Set start here” and “Set end here” at the right spots.
3. Set width and frames per second. 480 px and 10 fps are the defaults and suit most uses.
4. Press Start. A progress bar shows how far along the conversion is.
5. Download. Your GIF is saved with a clear file name, and you can see the before and after size. Press “Convert another file” to make the next one.

A video to GIF maker for every format

Many GIF tools only accept MP4. This one reads whatever your browser can play, so you can make a GIF directly from an iPhone MOV clip, a WebM screen capture or an MKV file without converting it first. If you specifically work with MP4 screen recordings and want detailed tips on quality versus size, see our dedicated MP4 to GIF page.

Got a long recording? You only need the few seconds you want as a GIF — just set the start and end. If you also want to keep a trimmed video version, the video cutter saves the same segment as an MP4 without re-encoding.

Choosing the right GIF settings

A GIF is an old image format. It can show at most 256 colours per frame and stores every frame as a separate picture, so file size climbs quickly. Two settings control most of that size:

Length matters just as much. Doubling the duration roughly doubles the file size, so a 3-second GIF at 480 px is usually far easier to share than a 12-second one at 640 px. Short clips of 2–6 seconds give the best results.

How to get a high quality GIF from a video

• Pick a short moment with a clear action, such as a reaction, a click or a product turning.
• Use 640 px when on-screen text needs to stay readable.
• Raise the frame rate only if movement looks jumpy; it adds size fast.
• Scenes with sky, skin tones or soft gradients will show some colour banding — that is the 256-colour limit of the format, not a bug.
• Converting a 4K video won't give a 4K GIF; the output width is capped at 640 px to keep the file usable.

Make a GIF from a video on iPhone or Android

You don't need an app. Open this page in Safari or Chrome on your phone, tap the upload box and choose a video from your photos. iPhone videos are often MOV files in HEVC format, and the tool reads them directly when your browser supports them. Processing happens on your phone, so it is slower than on a laptop, and very large files (over about 1.5 GB) may struggle because everything happens in the phone's memory. For best results on a phone, keep the GIF short.

Why GIF still matters — and when it doesn't

GIFs play automatically, loop forever and work almost everywhere: email clients, documentation tools, chat apps, issue trackers and forums. That makes them ideal for quick demos and reactions. The trade-off is size. If a site accepts video, an MP4 is usually many times smaller for the same clip. When you need to go the other way, our GIF to MP4 converter turns a heavy GIF back into a compact video. And if you need the full clip as a small video rather than a GIF, the video compressor is the better tool.

Private by design

Screen recordings often contain things you would not want to hand to a stranger: emails, dashboards, customer data. Because this video to GIF converter runs entirely in your browser, the file never leaves your device. That makes it safe for work files and confidential material.

Only convert videos you own or have the right to use.