Discord emoji maker

Turn a GIF, a short video, a picture or a typed word into a custom Discord emoji. The tool crops a square, resizes it to 128 × 128 pixels, thins the animation until the file fits under 256 KiB, and checks the result before you download it. It all runs in your browser, with no upload and no sign-up.

Free · no sign-up · runs in your browser

Drop a GIF, video or imageor click to choose a file

GIF, PNG, JPG, WebP, MP4, MOV or WebM. GIFs and pictures up to 25.0 MB. The file is opened on your device and never uploaded.

File name: emoji. Names are lower case, with letters, numbers and underscores only.

Output

Add a file to see the square crop box here.

Your emoji

Press Make emoji to get a file and the Discord checklist.

These checks use the Discord limits we checked on 7 Nov 2026. Check the current guidelines before you upload.

How to use it

  1. Add a clip or type a word

    Drop a GIF, a short video or a picture on the Upload tab, or switch to Text emoji and type a short word. Your file is opened on your device and never leaves it.

  2. Frame the square

    Drag the square box over the part you want to keep, or type its X, Y and size. If the clip sits on a plain colour, tick Remove plain background and adjust the tolerance.

  3. Choose GIF or PNG and a name

    Pick Animated GIF or Still PNG, then type an emoji name. The file name is built from it, in lower case, with letters, numbers and underscores.

  4. Make it and read the checklist

    Press Make emoji. The checklist shows the size, the dimensions and the frames, and the previews show the emoji at chat size on a light and a dark background. Then download it.

Examples made with this tool

Every example below is a real output of this tool, made from one of our own files. The original is on the left and the file you would upload to Discord is on the right, with its size, dimensions and frame count.

  • The original for this example. A cartoon bear holding a red heartOriginal
    A cartoon bear holding a red heartEmoji file
    A 320 × 320 sticker GIF with a solid background. The whole picture is kept, so the crop is the full square, and at 128 × 128 the file is well under the limit on the first try.Settings usedSquare crop 320 × 320 px at 0, 0 · resized to 128 × 128 px with 255 coloursGIF 498 KiB (320 × 320 px, 16 frames) → GIF 69.1 KiB (128 × 128 px, 16 frames). Within the 256 KiB limit.
  • The original for this example. A smiling sun with a Good Morning bannerOriginal
    A smiling sun with a Good Morning bannerEmoji file
    A sticker with a transparent background. The transparency is kept, so the sun sits cleanly on light and dark chat backgrounds, and it still fits at 128 × 128.Settings usedSquare crop 320 × 320 px at 0, 0 · resized to 128 × 128 px with 255 coloursGIF 491 KiB (320 × 320 px, 16 frames) → GIF 113 KiB (128 × 128 px, 16 frames). Within the 256 KiB limit.
  • The original for this example. A pink neon Open signOriginal
    A pink neon Open signEmoji file
    A wide 480 × 270 GIF. The square box is moved to the middle so the word stays whole, and the sides are cut away instead of the picture being squeezed.Settings usedSquare crop 270 × 270 px at 105, 0 · resized to 128 × 128 px with 255 coloursGIF 130 KiB (480 × 270 px, 12 frames) → GIF 26.2 KiB (128 × 128 px, 12 frames). Within the 256 KiB limit.
  • The original for this example. A white cat holding up a thumb and saying OKOriginal
    A white cat holding up a thumb and saying OKEmoji file
    The cat's plain light background is removed with the tolerance at 30, so only the cat and its speech bubble remain. The edge colour decides how the soft edges blend.Settings usedSquare crop 320 × 320 px at 0, 0 · plain background removed (tolerance 30) · resized to 128 × 128 px with 255 coloursGIF 337 KiB (320 × 320 px, 16 frames) → GIF 70.7 KiB (128 × 128 px, 16 frames). Within the 256 KiB limit.
  • The original for this example. The letters GG bouncing on a transparent backgroundTyped text
    The letters GG bouncing on a transparent backgroundEmoji file
    The Text emoji tab: the word GG with the bounce motion on a transparent square. It needs no source file, and the result is a small file.Settings usedThe word “GG” with bounce, on a transparent square · resized to 128 × 128 px with 255 coloursTyped text → GIF 13.2 KiB (128 × 128 px, 16 frames). Within the 256 KiB limit.
  • The original for this example. A laughing face emojiOriginal
    A laughing face emojiEmoji file
    A still PNG. It is the first frame of a sticker GIF with its plain background removed, saved at 128 × 128. A PNG keeps soft edges, so a still emoji needs no edge colour.Settings usedSquare crop 320 × 320 px at 0, 0 · plain background removed (tolerance 40) · saved as a still PNG at 128 × 128 pxGIF 339 KiB (320 × 320 px, 16 frames) → PNG 15.1 KiB (128 × 128 px). Within the 256 KiB limit.

What the tool does to your file

The pipeline has five steps, in this order. First comes the square crop, the part of the picture you keep. Then, if you ticked it, background removal: the tool floods outward from the edge of the square and clears every pixel close to the background colour, frame by frame. Then the size is set to 128 × 128 pixels. After that comes the size ladder: it encodes with the first settings and, if the file is over 256 KiB, tries fewer colours, then fewer frames, then a narrower picture.

The ladder never goes below 128 pixels, because Discord names that size, so a file that still does not fit is reported as failing instead of being quietly resized. Frames are thinned by keeping every second, third or fourth frame and adding the delays of the dropped ones to the frame before, so the loop lasts as long as it did. A short clip on a calm background is the easiest to fit. A long clip with camera movement, film grain or a gradient is the hardest, and the checklist will tell you so.

Still PNG or animated GIF

Choose Animated GIF when the movement is the point: a reaction, a loop, a dance. Choose Still PNG when you want a clean, sharp emoji. A PNG keeps soft edges and full colour, so a still emoji made from a sticker often looks better than the same picture saved as a one-frame GIF. A picture you drop in always becomes a PNG, because it has only one frame.

Discord's developer documentation lists JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF as accepted formats. This tool makes GIF and PNG because those two cover an animated and a still emoji. If your source is an animated WebP or APNG, convert it to a GIF first and bring the GIF here, because a dropped WebP or PNG is read as one still picture.

Uploading to Discord

Once the checklist passes, upload the file in your server's emoji settings. Discord's help article explains where those settings are and who is allowed to add emoji. We keep those steps out of this page because menus and permissions change, and an out-of-date instruction is worse than none.

How many emoji a server can hold depends on the server's level and on Discord's plans, so that number is not listed here either. The two pages below are the places to check the current rules.

Why your upload fails

Most failed uploads come down to three things: the file is over the size limit, the name is too short or has characters Discord does not accept, or the file is in a format Discord cannot read. The tool handles the first directly. The size check compares your file with 256 KiB, counting a KiB as 1,024 bytes, the way Discord's documentation writes it.

Names need at least two characters, and letters, numbers and underscores only, so the tool lower-cases yours, turns spaces and dashes into underscores and removes the rest. Look for a red cross in the checklist. Remember that a server can also be out of emoji slots, or you may lack permission to add emoji. Those two are about the server, not the file, and the tool cannot see them.

Other emoji makers and file tools

The same engine for another service, or a tool for the step before or after.

  • Twitch emote maker: the same pipeline with Twitch's frame limit, a flashing estimate and a three-size ZIP.
  • Slack emoji maker: the same pipeline with Slack's smaller size limit and frame limit.
  • GIF compressor: for a GIF that is not an emoji and just needs a target file size.
  • GIF resizer: scale a GIF by pixels or percent when it does not have to be square.

When this tool helps

  • A reaction from your own clip

    Cut a short moment from a screen recording or a video and turn it into a looping emoji for your server.

  • A mascot or logo

    Crop a character to a square and keep its transparent background so it works on light and dark themes.

  • A word as an emoji

    Make a short word or tag, such as GG or LOL, bounce or shake without needing a source file.

  • A GIF that is too big

    Fit an oversized GIF under the size limit and see whether it still reads at chat size.

  • A still version

    Save the first frame as a PNG when you do not need the animation.

How this tool works and its limits

What the tool does, what it assumes and where it stops.

  • Your file never leaves your device. It is opened, cropped and encoded in your browser, with no upload, no account and no watermark.
  • The size and dimension checks use the numbers in the limits box under the tool, which we checked on the date shown. Discord can change its rules, so the checklist is a guide and the upload itself is the final test.
  • The limits in the box were checked on 7 November 2026 against Discord's developer documentation and help centre. Discord can change them, so read its current guidelines if an upload is refused.
  • GIF transparency is on or off, with no soft edges. Soft edges are blended toward the edge colour you pick, so choose the chat theme your emoji will sit on, or leave the neutral grey.
  • Background removal works on plain or near-plain backgrounds. A busy photo background will not come out clean, and the tool does not try to find a subject by itself.
  • The 32 px preview is Discord's inline size from its help article. The larger jumbo preview is approximate, and Discord's own display may differ.
  • We built and tested the tool in current desktop Chrome. It relies on features your browser reports, and the list below checks yours live. We have not tested every browser.

Does your browser support this?

This list is checked against the browser you are using right now, by asking it directly. It is not a guess from the browser name.

  • GIF files: checking
  • Background encoding (Web Workers): checking
  • Video decoding (WebCodecs): checking

Questions, answered

How do I make an animated Discord emoji?

Drop a GIF or a short video on the Upload tab, frame the square, choose Animated GIF and press Make emoji. The checklist tells you whether the file fits Discord's size limit and dimensions. Then download it and upload it to your server.

What size should a Discord emoji be?

Discord's developer documentation describes the emoji image as 128 × 128 pixels, and its help article says to upload up to 128 × 128 for the best resolution. This tool makes exactly that size. Discord shows emoji resized to 32 × 32 in chat.

How big can a Discord emoji file be?

The developer documentation gives a maximum of 256 KiB for emoji and animated emoji. The tool tries stronger settings until the GIF fits, and the checklist shows the final size against that limit. If nothing fits, shorten the clip or crop tighter.

Can I make a Discord emoji from a video?

Yes. Drop an MP4, MOV or WebM file, choose the start and the end, and pick 10, 12 or 15 frames per second. The tool decodes the frames in your browser, so a browser that cannot decode video says so above the tool.

Does it keep a transparent background?

Yes. A transparent GIF keeps its transparency, and you can also remove a plain background. Because GIF transparency has no soft edges, pick an edge colour close to the chat theme. A still PNG keeps soft edges.

Is my file uploaded, and is there a watermark?

No. The file stays in your browser, you need no account, and the tool adds no watermark. The AI tab is separate: it links to the AI sticker generator, which costs 1 credit per sticker and needs a signed-in account.