Convert MOV to GIF
Turn an iPhone clip or a Mac screen recording into a GIF without sending it anywhere.
- Nothing is uploaded
- Works offline
- Open source
- No limits, no watermark
Done
Open the network tab. It stays empty.
Add files and run the tool to see every request this tab makes.
Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.
MOV is the QuickTime container Apple uses for iPhone videos and for screen recordings made with Shift Command 5 on a Mac. Both are exactly the kind of file you would rather not upload to a converter: a clip of your kids, or a recording of your screen with your inbox, your bank tab or a customer’s data on it. Here the MOV is opened by your own browser and the GIF is written on your device.
Whether a MOV opens depends on the video codec inside it, not on the .mov extension. Mac screen recordings and iPhone videos saved as Most Compatible use H.264, which every modern browser can decode. iPhone videos recorded in High Efficiency mode use HEVC (H.265): Safari on a Mac, iPhone or iPad plays those, but Chrome and Firefox on Windows usually cannot. If the video will not open, try this page in Safari, or send yourself the clip from Photos with the Most Compatible option.
Once it is open, scrub to the part you want and use Set start and Set end. Screen recordings make excellent GIFs at 800 pixels wide and 10 frames per second, because flat interface colours fit comfortably in a GIF’s 256-colour palette. For camera footage, 480 pixels at 15 frames per second keeps the file shareable.
How it works
- Drop a MOV file (an iPhone video or a Mac screen recording), or tap to pick one.
- Scrub to the moments you want and press Set start and Set end. Choose the width and frame rate.
- Make the GIF and it downloads. The video never leaves your device.
In your browser, not on a server
Your browser opens the video with its own built-in decoder, the same one that plays it in the player above. Stayput seeks to each moment you asked for, copies that frame onto a canvas at the width you chose, and gifenc (MIT) picks the best 256 colours for it and compresses it. The GIF is assembled frame by frame in memory in your tab.
Compared with upload-based tools: Online GIF makers upload the whole video to trim a few seconds of it, cap the file size, and often stamp a watermark on the result. Personal clips of family, pets or a screen with your inbox on it are exactly what should not sit on a stranger’s server. Here the video never leaves your device, whatever its size.
Verify it yourself. Load this page, turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode, and run the tool. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.
Questions
Why does my iPhone MOV say it cannot be played?
It is probably HEVC (H.265), the iPhone default since 2017. Your browser has to decode it, and Chrome and Firefox on Windows or Linux usually cannot. Open this page in Safari, or on the iPhone go to Settings, Camera, Formats and pick Most Compatible for future videos.
How do I turn a Mac screen recording into a GIF?
Record with Shift Command 5, drop the .mov from your desktop onto this page, and trim it to the part that matters. 800 pixels wide at 10 frames per second keeps interface text sharp while keeping the GIF small enough for a pull request or a help article.
Is a Live Photo a MOV?
Partly. A Live Photo is a still HEIC plus a short MOV clip. Export it from Photos as a video (or share it as a video) and drop the resulting file here to turn it into a GIF.
Is the file uploaded anywhere?
No. There is no server in this process. The page is a static file and the work is done by code running inside your browser tab. You can load the page, turn off Wi-Fi, and it still works.