MOV to GIF
iPhone recordings, Mac screen captures, QuickTime exports. Nothing is uploaded.
MOV files come from iPhones, from the Mac screen recorder (⌘⇧5) and from QuickTime and Final Cut exports. The converter opens with the Demo preset; if the MOV is a screen capture, switch to the screen recording settings for a much smaller file.
Open the converter → Opens the converter set to 480 px wide at 15 fps. Drag the handles to pick the part you want.- 100% freeNo account, no daily quota, no paid tier.
- Nothing is uploadedThe video is read and converted on your device and never reaches a server.
- No catch on the outputNo watermark, no forced downscaling, no size cap.
- Updated in the openEvery fix and every change is written down on the changelog page.
MOV is a container, not a codec
A MOV file is Apple's QuickTime container, and it is the direct ancestor of MP4 — the two formats share the same structure and nearly the same set of codecs. What is inside decides whether your browser can read it. iPhone recordings are H.264 or HEVC; Mac screen recordings are H.264; ProRes exports from Final Cut are not decodable by any browser and need to be exported as H.264 first. If the file opens in Safari or Chrome as a video, this converter can read it.
Two things are specific to Apple MOVs. First, orientation: an iPhone stores the picture as the sensor saw it and adds a rotation matrix to the file, so a portrait clip is really a landscape picture with a note saying "rotate 90°". This converter applies that note before taking a single frame, so the GIF comes out the way the video plays. Second, HEVC: iPhones default to it ("High Efficiency" in Camera settings), and while Safari, Chrome and Edge decode it, Firefox may not — the page says so if it cannot.
From a Mac screen recording
⌘⇧5 recordings are large MOVs — 1440 or 2880 px wide on a Retina display, at 60 fps — and they are the best possible input for a GIF, because most of the screen never changes. Set the width to 640 or 800 px so the text stays readable, the frame rate to 10 or 12 (cursor movement does not need more), and leave "only store changed pixels" on; a ten-second recording of a dialog or a menu is often under a megabyte.
Trim to the action. Drag the start handle to the first click and the end handle to the moment the result appears; a demo GIF that opens on a blank desktop and waits two seconds wastes size and attention. The number boxes under the film strip accept exact values if you know them.
Frequently asked questions
My MOV will not open — "cannot decode this video".
It is probably ProRes, DNxHD or another editing codec that browsers do not decode. Export the clip as H.264 (in QuickTime: File → Export As) and try again.
Will a portrait iPhone MOV come out sideways?
No. The rotation stored in the file is applied first. If it plays upright in QuickTime, the GIF is upright.
Does it work on a Mac in Safari?
Yes, in Safari 17 and later, and in Chrome, Edge and Firefox on macOS.
Is the sound kept?
GIF has no sound. Nothing from the audio track is used.