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How to Make a GIF from a Video on iPhone

Turn a short iPhone video into a looping GIF for a chat, a doc or a slide: how to pick a good clip, choose a GIF size and save or share it.

  • How-to
  • Convert Cat
Made for this: Convert Cat

You filmed something short and funny, or a quick how-to, and you want it to play on its own in a group chat, a document or a slide. A GIF is a short, silent loop. This guide covers how to pick a clip that makes a good GIF, then how to make one with Convert Cat, our photo, PDF and video converter for iPhone.

Pick a good clip

A GIF is a different thing from a video, so not every clip works well.

  • Keep it short. A GIF is a loop. The best ones show one moment: a wave, a jump, a pour, a click. Convert Cat keeps the first 15 seconds of a longer video, so put the moment you want at the start.
  • Start where the action starts. Convert Cat begins at the first frame. If the good part is in the middle of a long video, shorten the clip before you pick it.
  • Hold the phone still. A steady shot loops more cleanly than a shaky one.
  • Don't rely on sound. A GIF has no sound. If the joke is in what someone says, a video is the better choice.
  • Keep the scene simple. A GIF holds fewer colours than a video, so a plain background tends to look cleaner than a busy, colourful one.

Make a GIF in Convert Cat

  1. Open Convert Cat. If it asks What are you making?, tap Convert & PDFs. If it opens in another job, the grid button at the top left takes you back to that choice.
  2. Tap Choose Photos and pick your video. A video saved in Files works too: tap Choose Files. You can pick more than one.
  3. Under What do you want to do?, tap Make a GIF ("A short loop for chats and websites").
  4. The Make a GIF screen opens with GIF picked under Convert. The note under it says what you get: "A short moving picture for chats and websites. It loops, has no sound, and keeps the first 15 seconds."
  5. Under GIF size, pick Large, Medium or Small (more on that below).
  6. Tap Make GIF. With several videos, the button says Make 3 GIFs, and so on, and you get one GIF per video.

A Live Photo can be turned into a looping GIF too.

When it's done, the result screen shows the size before and after. Tap the file under Your file to look at it. If your video was longer than 15 seconds, a note says so: "A GIF keeps the first 15 seconds of a longer video."

Then save or send it:

  • Save to Photos adds the GIF to your photo library.
  • Save to Files puts it in a folder of your choice.
  • Share opens the share sheet, so you can send it to another app.

Finished files stay in History until you clear them, so you can come back and share the same GIF again. Tap New to start over with another video.

Choose a GIF size

Convert Cat words the GIF sizes plainly, with the pixels underneath:

  • Large: 720 px on the long side.
  • Medium: 480 px on the long side.
  • Small: 320 px on the long side.

Medium is picked the first time. After that, Convert Cat keeps the last size you picked.

Bigger GIFs look sharper but make bigger files. Pick Small when the GIF will show up small anyway, like in a chat. Pick Large when it will fill a slide or a page. The panel at the top shows the size you chose, like "1 video · 480 px GIF", and the result screen shows the real file size once it's made. If it's too big for where you're sending it, go back and pick a smaller size.

Every GIF plays at 10 frames a second and loops forever. It comes out upright, the way the video plays.

The screen also says: "A GIF carries no location, date or device." So where you filmed it doesn't travel with it.

Need a photo at a set size instead? See how to resize a photo on iPhone.

What Convert Cat doesn't do

  • It doesn't let you pick the start or end. The GIF always starts at the first frame and keeps up to 15 seconds.
  • It doesn't add text, captions or stickers. The GIF shows the video as it is.
  • It doesn't change the speed or the frame rate, play in reverse or bounce back and forth.
  • It doesn't crop. The GIF keeps the shape of the video.
  • It doesn't keep sound. No GIF has sound.
  • It doesn't turn a GIF back into a video.

What it costs

Making GIFs is free, with no limit on how many videos you convert. There's no watermark: nothing is added to your GIF. There are no ads, no sign-up and no account. The GIF is made on your iPhone.

Convert Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase. For photo conversions it adds Saved presets, Name your files, Shortcuts and Convert from the share sheet. For Watermarks it adds Your logo as the mark, Keep all photo info and Named styles. None of them is needed to make a GIF. More on the Convert Cat page.

Quick answers

How long can the GIF be?
Up to 15 seconds. A longer video is cut to its first 15 seconds, and the result screen tells you.

Will the GIF have sound?
No. A GIF has no sound. If the sound matters, send the video instead.

Can I make several GIFs at once?
Yes. Pick several videos, tap Make a GIF, and you get one GIF for each.

Does the GIF show where I filmed it?
No. A GIF carries no location, date or device.

Is it free?
Yes. Making GIFs is free, with no watermark and no sign-up.

Try Convert Cat

Try Convert Cat: free, no watermark, no sign-up → iyio.com/apps/convert-cat