How to convert a video to a GIF

The five steps

1. Choose your video. Drop an MP4, MOV or WebM file into the converter, or click Browse file. Anything your browser can play works; the video stays on your device the whole time.
2. Trim to the moment. Drag the Start and End sliders to frame the clip you want. Keep it short — every second of duration costs more size than any other setting, and the best reaction GIFs run 2–6 seconds.
3. Pick the frame rate. 10 fps for slideshows and static scenes, 12 fps as the all-purpose default, 15–20 fps for motion, sports and scrolling text. Higher fps looks smoother and costs proportionally more size.
4. Pick the output width. 240 px for tiny inline reactions, 320 px for chat windows, 480 px as the standard for social posting, 640–800 px when detail matters and the size budget allows.
5. Convert, check, download. Click Convert to GIF. The result panel shows the real file size and checks it against Discord’s 10 MB, X’s 15 MB and Reddit’s 20 MB caps, then download the looping GIF.

Settings cheat sheet by goal

You want…	Duration	fps	Width
Reaction loop for chat	2–4 s	12	320px
Social post that must fit every platform	3–6 s	12	480px
Sports play or fast action	3–5 s	15–20	480–640px
Screenshow / UI tutorial loop	8–15 s	10–15	320–480px
Maximum-quality showcase	≤4 s	24	640–800px

Two knobs beat everything else

If the estimate (or the result panel) comes back too big, resist fiddling with many settings. Duration first: cutting one second removes an entire column of frames. Width second: each step down removes roughly 40% of the pixels. Only after those two should you drop fps — smoothness is the last thing you want to lose.

Format-specific wrinkles — HEVC iPhone clips, HDR colors, alpha transparency in WebM — are covered in the MP4, MOV and WebM guides.