Record your whole screen, one window or a browser tab and turn it straight into an animated GIF. Crop to the part that matters, trim the start and end, choose the frame rate, width and palette, and download a small GIF with no watermark. The recording never leaves your computer.
Last updated:
Record your screen, a window or a browser tabYour browser asks what to share. The recording stays on this device and becomes a GIF here.
REC 0:00
Pick what to record, then press Stop when you are done.
Crop region
Drag the box on the preview to choose the part of the screen that goes into the GIF; drag a corner to resize it.
Recording
GIF settings
Record something to see the GIF size estimate.
Your GIF
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How to use the Screen to GIF Recorder
Press Start recording and choose Entire screen, a Window or a Chrome tab in your browser's sharing dialog.
Show what you want to capture. After the countdown the recording runs until you press Stop recording, stop sharing, or the time limit is reached.
Trim and crop: set the start and end, then pick a crop shape and drag the box over the part of the screen you need.
Choose GIF settings: frame rate, max width, number of colors, dithering, loop and speed. The size estimate updates as you change them.
Press Create GIF, check the preview and press Download GIF.
Recommended settings for screen GIFs
A GIF stores every frame as indexed pixels with a palette of up to 256 colors, compressed with LZW. Its size grows with width × height × frames, so cropping, a smaller width and a lower frame rate have the biggest effect. This recorder also skips repeated frames and stores only the rectangle that changed since the previous frame, which is why screen recordings with lots of still areas end up small.
What you are recording
Frame rate
Max width
Colors
Dithering
App or website how-to, bug report
8–12 fps
640–800 px
128–256
None
Code editor or terminal
6–10 fps
640–1024 px
32–64
None
Slides or diagrams
4–8 fps
640 px
64–128
None
Animation, game or video on screen
15–20 fps
480 px
256
Floyd–Steinberg
Long process as a timelapse
8 fps at 4× speed
480–640 px
128
None or ordered
GIF frame delays are stored in hundredths of a second, so frame rates that divide 100 evenly (such as 4, 5, 10, 20 or 25 fps) play back most evenly. Other rates are rounded frame by frame so the total length stays correct.
Tips for a clean screen GIF
Share a tab or a window rather than the whole screen when you can: notifications and other windows stay out of the recording, and the picture is smaller.
Make text big enough. Zoom the page or app to 125–150% before recording if the GIF will be shrunk to 640 px.
Move the mouse slowly and pause on each click so viewers can follow. Turn off the pointer if it only distracts.
Keep it short. Most GIFs in docs, chats and issue trackers work best at 3–15 seconds. Use Speed 2× or 4× to compress a long task.
Check upload limits. Many chat apps, forums and issue trackers cap images at about 5–10 MB; watch the size estimate before you encode.
GIF, WebM or MP4?
A GIF plays automatically and loops everywhere images are allowed, such as README files, documentation, email and chat, which is why it remains popular for short screen demos. Video formats like WebM and MP4 are often 5 to 10 times smaller and keep millions of colors, but they need a video player. That is why this tool also lets you download the original WebM recording.
Frequently asked questions
How do I record my screen as a GIF?
Press Start recording, choose the screen, window or tab to share, do what you want to show and press Stop recording. Then trim and crop the clip, choose a frame rate and width, and press Create GIF. The GIF is encoded in your browser and you can download it straight away.
Is my screen recording uploaded anywhere?
No. The screen is captured with your browser's built-in screen sharing and recorded with MediaRecorder into memory on your device. Frames are read and encoded to GIF locally in JavaScript. Nothing is sent to a server, and the recording disappears when you close the page.
What settings make the smallest GIF?
Crop to only the area that matters, keep the width at 640 px or less, use 8 to 12 frames per second and turn dithering off for screen content such as apps, code and slides. Screen recordings with large still areas compress very well, because the encoder only stores the pixels that change from frame to frame.
Why does my GIF look grainy or banded?
A GIF can hold at most 256 colors per frame. Flat user interfaces look sharp with no dithering, but gradients, photos and video in the recording can show banding. Choose Floyd–Steinberg dithering to smooth gradients, or ordered dithering for a lighter pattern that compresses better.
Can I record a screen GIF on my phone?
Mobile browsers on Android and iPhone do not allow web pages to capture the screen. Use your phone's built-in screen recorder, then open the video here with the link under the Start button, or use the MP4 to GIF converter.
Can it record sound?
No, because the GIF format has no audio track. If you need sound, download the WebM recording instead, or use the Screen Recorder tool, which records screen video with system and microphone audio.
Why can't I choose a single window in some browsers?
The sharing choices come from your browser and operating system. Chrome and Edge offer tabs, windows and the entire screen; Firefox offers windows and screens; Safari on macOS offers windows and screens. On macOS you may need to allow screen recording for your browser in System Settings, Privacy and Security.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.