Convert a GIF to MP4

How to convert a GIF to MP4

1. Add your GIF file (or up to five).
2. Choose how many times it should play, and a maximum width if you want it smaller.
3. Press Convert to MP4 and download the video.

Why an MP4 is so much smaller

GIF is a format from 1987. It stores every frame as a separate picture of at most 256 colours, with only basic compression between frames. An MP4 uses modern video compression, which stores a frame once and then only what changes. The same animation that weighs 12 MB as a GIF is often 1 to 2 MB as an MP4, and it looks cleaner because it is not limited to 256 colours.

That is why many sites and apps quietly convert uploaded GIFs to MP4 behind the scenes. If a page, a message board or a landing page lets you use video, MP4 is the better choice.

What to expect

• No sound. GIFs have none, and neither does the result.
• Looping. A GIF loops forever, while an MP4 plays once unless the player is set to loop. If it has to repeat without that setting, choose several plays here; the repeats are written into the file. On a web page, add the loop attribute to the video element instead and keep a single play.
• Even dimensions. H.264 needs an even width and height, so an odd-sized GIF loses at most one pixel on an edge.

Need to go the other way? Video to GIF makes a GIF from any video.