How to make a GIF that stays small

A few seconds of video can easily turn into a 20 MB GIF. That's because the GIF format dates from 1987: it stores every frame as a picture of up to 256 colors and compresses it with a method meant for simple graphics, not video. A modern video file of the same clip is often ten times smaller.

So why use GIFs at all? They play automatically and loop almost everywhere, including in email, chat apps, slide decks and older websites where a video wouldn't play. The trick is to give the format less to store.

1. Keep it short

File size grows with every frame. A reaction or a product demo usually works in 3 to 6 seconds. Trim to the moment that matters and let it loop.

2. Make it smaller on screen

Halving the width and the height cuts the number of pixels to a quarter. Most GIFs are seen in a chat bubble or an email at 400 to 600 pixels wide, so a 1080-pixel GIF is mostly wasted.

3. Crop to the action

Empty sky, borders and backgrounds all cost space. Crop to the part that moves, and choose a square or vertical shape if that's where it will be seen.

4. Lower the frame rate

Video usually runs at 24 to 60 frames a second. GIFs look smooth enough at 10 to 15, which can cut the size by half or more.

5. Pick simple footage

Still backgrounds, flat colors and steady cameras compress well. Camera shake, film grain, confetti and smooth gradients change on every frame and make files much larger.

What size should it be?

Under 5 MB works almost everywhere, including email and most chat apps. Under 2 MB loads quickly on a phone connection. If the place you're posting plays video, such as Instagram, TikTok or X, upload a video instead: it will look better and be much smaller.

Tools for this

GIF turns a video or a link into a GIF with a trim, a crop and a target file size, and picks the frame rate and colors for you. Compress makes an existing GIF, video or image smaller.