MOV to GIF

Drop a MOV from your iPhone or a QuickTime recording, trim it, and download a GIF. If your phone saved it in HEVC and the browser cannot read it, this page tells you what to change.

Free · no sign-up · runs in your browser

Drop a MOV hereor click to choose a file

MOV, MP4 or WebM · up to 300.0 MB · nothing is uploaded

HDR clips may look flat in a GIF, because GIF cannot show HDR.

Frames per second
Speed
File size

Trim

The bright part of the strip becomes the GIF. Move the two sliders to set where it starts and ends.

Before

Drop a MOV here

After

Your new GIF appears here.

How to use it

  1. Drop your MOV

    Drop the .mov file onto the box or click to choose it. iPhone videos from the Photos app work after you save or AirDrop them as files. The file stays on your device.

  2. Trim to the moment

    Use the Start and End sliders under the thumbnail strip. iPhone clips are often long and shot sideways in the file, and the strip shows them the right way up.

  3. Pick the GIF settings

    Choose 10, 12 or 15 frames per second, a width of up to 640 px, a speed and Balanced or Smaller file. Clips from a phone camera are detailed, so a smaller width helps.

  4. Convert and download

    Press Convert to GIF and download the result. If the video cannot be decoded, the message above the tool says whether HEVC is the reason.

Examples made with this tool

These GIFs were made from MOV files (QuickTime containers with H.264 video) through the same planning, timing and GIF-writing code that the tool uses. Each card shows the MOV on the left and the GIF on the right.

  • Original
    A fox turning its head, converted from a MOV file to a GIFGIF
    A 1.5 second part of a MOV at 12 frames per second and 320 px. A MOV from a phone is usually larger, so expect the same settings to give a bigger file.Settings usedTrim 1 s to 2.5 s, 12 frames per second, 320 px wide, speed 1×, smaller file size.MOV 173 KB (480 × 480 px) → GIF 499 KB (320 × 320 px), 18 frames
  • Original
    A small robot waving, trimmed from a MOV clipGIF
    Trimmed to the part from 1 s to 2.5 s at 15 frames per second. Trimming first is the single biggest saving, because every second you drop is frames you do not store.Settings usedTrim 1 s to 2.5 s, 15 frames per second, 320 px wide, speed 1×, balanced file size.MOV 67 KB (480 × 480 px) → GIF 412 KB (320 × 320 px), 23 frames
  • Original
    A steaming mug on a table as a small looping GIFGIF
    Smaller file at 480 px wide. Slow, mostly still scenes like this compress well in a GIF, because most pixels do not change from frame to frame.Settings usedTrim 0 s to 3 s, 10 frames per second, 480 px wide, speed 1×, smaller file size.MOV 46 KB (480 × 480 px) → GIF 346 KB (480 × 480 px), 30 frames
  • Original
    A corgi trotting in slow motion as a GIFGIF
    Speed 0.5 times stretches a 1.5 second clip into 3 seconds of slow motion. Each source frame is shown for longer, so the file has twice the frames for the same stretch of video.Settings usedTrim 0 s to 1.5 s, 10 frames per second, 320 px wide, speed 0.5×, smaller file size.MOV 116 KB (480 × 480 px) → GIF 591 KB (320 × 320 px), 30 frames

Convert an iPhone video to a GIF

A video from your camera roll is just a file. Save the clip to Files or AirDrop it to a computer, drop the .mov here, trim it and convert. The tool reads the rotation stored in the file, so a clip you held upright comes out upright.

Phone videos are high resolution, and a GIF is not. The width control tops out at 640 px for a reason: at that size a three second clip is already a large file. Most chat and web uses are happy with 320 to 480 px.

If your MOV will not convert: HEVC and HDR

Newer iPhones record in HEVC (also called H.265) by default, and some browsers cannot decode it. The page tries to decode the first frame and, if that fails, says so plainly. On the iPhone, set Settings, Camera, Formats to Most Compatible so that new recordings use H.264, and turn off HDR Video in the camera settings. That affects videos you record afterwards; it does not change old ones.

You can also open this page in Safari on a Mac, which has HEVC built in, and convert there. HDR clips that do decode may look flat or washed out in a GIF, because GIF has no HDR and the colours are mapped down to a standard range. If a clip looks flat, record it again with HDR off.

MOV vs MP4: does it matter?

MOV and MP4 are containers, boxes that hold video and sound. They are close relatives and often hold exactly the same H.264 video. What matters for conversion is the codec inside, not the extension. A MOV with H.264 converts the same as an MP4 with H.264.

That is why this page and the video to GIF page share one engine. This page adds notes about iPhone settings and HEVC, because that is where MOV conversions go wrong. If you have an MP4 instead, the video page is the better start.

Other tools for the same clip

After the conversion, these browser tools help with the usual next steps.

When MOV to GIF helps

  • Share a phone video as a GIF

    Turn a short clip from your camera roll into a loop for a chat or an email.

  • Screen recordings from a Mac

    QuickTime Player saves screen recordings as MOV. Trim to the click and convert.

  • A pet or a child doing one thing

    Pick the two seconds that are the whole joke and loop them.

  • A how-to step

    Show one action in a help article without embedding a video player.

  • A slow-motion detail

    Use 0.5 times to slow a quick move so the viewer can see it.

How this tool works and its limits

This is what the MOV converter does, and where it stops.

  • Your video never leaves your device. It is decoded and encoded in your browser, and no account is needed.
  • Files up to 300 MB are accepted. Whether a MOV opens depends on the codec inside it and on your browser. H.264 works widely; HEVC works only where the browser can decode it.
  • The page checks the first frame with a time limit. If it cannot be decoded it explains the HEVC settings above instead of failing silently.
  • Exports are capped at 300 frames and 30 seconds of playing time, with 10, 12 or 15 frames per second and a width up to 640 px.
  • HDR video may look flat in a GIF. There is no sound, and the GIF has at most 256 colours per frame.
  • Changing the iPhone camera format only affects videos you record afterwards. For old HEVC clips, use Safari on a Mac or re-export them as H.264.
  • We built and tested the tool in current Chrome. The browser check below asks your own browser what it can decode.

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.

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

Questions, answered

How do I convert a MOV to a GIF?

Drop the MOV above, trim it with the sliders, choose a frame rate and width and press Convert to GIF. The file is processed in your browser and downloads as a GIF.

How do I turn an iPhone video into a GIF?

Save the video as a file (Files or AirDrop), drop it here, trim it and convert. If it will not open, your iPhone probably saved it as HEVC; the steps above show how to switch to Most Compatible for new recordings.

Why will my iPhone video not convert?

Most often the clip is HEVC or HDR and your browser cannot decode it. Open the page in Safari on a Mac, or record with Most Compatible and HDR Video off, then try again.

Does MOV to GIF upload my video?

No. Decoding and encoding both happen on your device. Nothing is sent to a server, and you need no account.

Why does my GIF look flat or washed out?

The clip is probably HDR. GIF cannot show HDR, so the colours are mapped to a standard range and can look flat. Record again with HDR Video off for better colour.

Is a MOV different from an MP4?

They are different containers and often hold the same H.264 video. What decides whether the conversion works is the codec, not the file extension.