MOV to GIF Converter
Make looping GIFs from iPhone videos and Mac screen recordings saved as MOV, with no app to install and no need to convert to MP4 first.
Video to GIF
or drag MP4, MOV, MKV … files here ·
Up to 95 MB each· 20 files at once· Removed after 30 min
Your files are removed from our servers 30 minutes after processing.
Seconds (e.g. 12.5) or minutes:seconds (0:12). GIFs get large fast, so keep clips to a few seconds.
Same format as the start time. Leave empty to use the whole video.
Play the clip slower or faster. 2× also halves the length and the file size.
Whether the GIF repeats endlessly or plays one time and stops on the last frame.
GIF holds at most 256 colors per frame. Fewer colors make a smaller file but cause banding on skies and skin.
Mixes palette colors in a fine pattern to hide banding. Sierra gives the smoothest result; none gives the smallest file.
Files are deleted 30 minutes after processingPrivacy policy
iPhone videos and Mac recordings are MOV files; they become GIFs directly, without a detour through MP4.
Where MOV clips come from
MOV is Apple's QuickTime movie format, introduced in 1991, and it is what Apple devices produce by default. The iPhone camera saves video as .mov, Mac screen recordings made with the Screenshot toolbar or QuickTime Player are .mov, and many editing apps on Mac export to it. So when you want a GIF of something you filmed or recorded on Apple hardware, the source is almost always a MOV.
Inside the file, recent iPhones store video with HEVC, also called H.265, when the camera is set to High Efficiency, or with H.264 under Most Compatible, as Apple explains. Some Windows apps and web services handle HEVC poorly, which is one reason people look for a converter. Both codecs are read here.
Clips from other Apple sources work the same way. Videos saved from iMovie or Final Cut as QuickTime, screen captures of an iPad, and slow-motion clips from the iPhone camera are all MOV files. If a clip feels too fast as a loop, set Speed to 0.5× here for a slow-motion look, or to 2× if a screen capture drags.
MOV
MOV video
Apple's QuickTime movie container, first released in 1991. It can hold lossy footage such as iPhone recordings or high-quality ProRes masters, and some codecs inside it support transparency. Macs and editing software handle it well; some Windows players and websites accept MP4 more readily.
- Lossy or lossless
- Transparency
- Vendor format
GIF
GIF image
CompuServe's 1987 format, best known today for looping reaction clips. Each frame uses a small fixed color palette and lossless compression, and one color can be marked fully transparent. Every browser and chat app plays it, though gradients look banded and long clips make heavy files.
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Animation
Why convertThis direction turns a full-quality Apple video, with sound and millions of colors, into a silent loop of 256 colors that plays inline on any platform, including ones that will not open MOV at all. Keep the MOV for watching or editing, and make the GIF for the moment you want to share.
What changes on the way to GIF
15 fps
the preset frame rate, a step above the usual 12 for smooth phone footage.
iPhone clips are often filmed at 30 or 60 frames per second; most of those frames are dropped so the GIF stays light.
The converter decodes the MOV, keeps the frames needed for the chosen frame rate, scales them to the width you set, and builds a palette of up to 256 colors for each frame. Sound is dropped, since GIF has no audio. HDR footage is mapped to standard colors, and the bright highlights of HDR scenes look flatter as a result.
This page uses 15 frames per second rather than 12 because handheld phone footage moves a lot: pans, people walking and pets running look jerky at lower rates. If the GIF ends up too large, shorten the clip first, then reduce the width, and only then lower the frame rate.
Resolution falls the most. A 4K iPhone clip is several thousand pixels wide, and a GIF of that size would be enormous, so the frames are scaled to the width you choose. At 480 pixels the GIF fits a chat bubble or a forum post comfortably, and faces and text in the frame stay recognizable.
Three starting points
Different MOV sources want different settings. The cards below show sensible values for the three most common kinds of clip, so you can adjust the preset before converting.
Phone moment
A reaction, a pet, a quick scene filmed on iPhone.
Recommended- Width
- 480 px
- Frame rate
- 15 fps
- Colors
- 256
Screen recording
An app demo or a bug report recorded on a Mac.
- Width
- 640 px
- Frame rate
- 10 fps
- Colors
- 128
Vertical clip
A portrait video meant for a chat or a story.
- Width
- 320 px
- Frame rate
- 12 fps
- Colors
- 256
Trimming and playback
Keep GIFs short. Set Start at and End at to a few seconds; times can be typed as seconds or as minutes and seconds, such as 0:12. Under Playback, Speed at 2× turns a slow screen recording into a brisk demo, Play once stops on the last frame, and Boomerang plays forward and back for a seamless loop at twice the length.
Check the finished GIF where it will be shown. Some chat apps and sites limit GIF uploads or reduce large ones, which can make a loop stutter. If that happens, shorten the clip or lower the width and convert again; small changes to those two settings make the biggest difference.
Up to 20 clips fit in one batch. Uploads are deleted after conversion and the GIFs 30 minutes later. For MP4 sources, MP4 to GIF explains the size trade-offs in more detail, and the main Video to GIF tool takes every other video format. To keep the clip as video, with sound, Trim Video cuts it without converting.
Make a GIF from a MOV clip
Add the MOV file
Drop the .mov file on the box above, or press Choose Files and pick the video from Photos or Files. Each file can be up to 95 MB.
Pick the moment
Set Start at and End at to keep a few seconds. Width is 480 px and Frame rate 15 fps, smooth for phone footage.
Convert and save
Press Convert to GIF and download the loop. On iPhone, save it to Files or share it straight to a chat.
MOV to GIF questions
Do I need to convert my iPhone MOV to MP4 before making a GIF?
No. MOV files go straight in, whether the iPhone recorded them in HEVC or H.264. An extra MP4 step would only take time and add another round of compression.
My iPhone video is larger than 95 MB. What can I do?
Trim it in the Photos app first: tap Edit, drag the ends of the timeline to the moment you want, and save it as a new clip. A few seconds of 4K video is well under the limit.
Can I make a GIF from a Live Photo?
Yes. In Photos, a Live Photo can be shared or saved as a video, which gives you a short MOV. Add that file here, or set Loop and Boomerang to recreate the bounce effect.
How do I make a GIF of a Mac screen recording?
Record with the Screenshot toolbar or QuickTime Player, which save a .mov file, then add it here. Lower Colors to 128 and turn Dithering to None so interface text stays crisp.
Why does my HDR iPhone video look washed out as a GIF?
GIF has no HDR and only 256 colors per frame, so bright HDR footage is mapped to standard colors. Some loss of punch is normal; scenes with strong contrast hold up best.
Why does the GIF from my vertical video look tall and heavy?
Width sets the GIF's width and the height follows the clip's shape, so a portrait clip comes out much taller than it is wide. Use a width of 320 px for vertical videos to keep the file light enough for chats.
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