.gif files

Common questions

How do I open a .gif file?

On Windows use Photos (built in); on macOS use Preview (built in — shows frames); on Linux use Image Viewer / Loupe (built in). The 256-colour animation format from 1987 that refuses to die.

What is a .gif file?

Graphics Interchange Format. CompuServe published GIF in 1987. It is limited to 256 colours per frame, which makes it poor for photographs and fine for flat graphics and short looping animations.

Can I convert a .gif file?

Yes. It is usually converted to .mp4, .webp, .png, .apng or .webm, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.

Related pages

• .jpg — JPEG Image The lossy photo format that every camera, phone and website has used since the 1
• .png — Portable Network Graphics Lossless image format with transparency, made for screenshots, logos and web gra
• .jpeg — JPEG Image (four-letter form) The same format as .jpg — the longer spelling, kept alive by Macs and Unix syste
• .heic — High Efficiency Image Container The format an iPhone saves photos in — about half the size of a JPEG at the same
• .webp — WebP Image Google's web image format — smaller than JPEG or PNG, and now supported everywhe
• .psd — Adobe Photoshop Document Photoshop's working file, keeping layers, masks and text editable.
• .svg — Scalable Vector Graphics An XML text format describing shapes rather than pixels, so it stays sharp at an
• .ai — Adobe Illustrator Artwork Illustrator's vector working file, used for logos, icons and print artwork.
• .avif — AV1 Image File Format A royalty-free image format built on the AV1 video codec, smaller than JPEG or W
• .tiff — Tagged Image File Format The lossless, multi-page image format used in printing, scanning and archiving.
• .raw — Camera Raw Image Unprocessed sensor data from a camera — and, confusingly, a literal extension us
• .ico — Windows Icon A container holding one icon at several sizes, used by Windows and by website fa