Turn a screen recording into a GIF on a Mac

Updated 14 November 20263 minute read

Steps

1. Record your screen, or find the video. Shift-Command-5 records the screen on any Mac. Drip takes .mov, .mp4 and .m4v files your Mac can play, not only screen recordings.
2. Drag it up to the notch.
3. Let go on Make a GIF. The top right says “Opens the trimmer”: Drip’s Video to GIF window opens with your video in it.
4. Trim it. Drag the handles on the bar under the video to keep only the part you need. The arrow keys move a handle by one frame.
5. Choose the settings.
   • Width: 320, 480, 640, 800 or 1024 px, or Original.
   • Frame rate: 8 to 30 frames a second. It starts at 15.
   • Quality, Speed (from half speed to 3×) and Loop (forever, once, twice, 3 or 5 times).
   • Dither keeps gradients and shadows smooth, at the cost of a bigger file.
6. Choose Export GIF… and pick where to save it.

Keeping a GIF small

• Keep it short. Every second adds frames, and GIFs grow fast.
• 640 or 800 px wide is plenty for a chat or a README; 12 to 15 frames a second looks smooth for most screen recordings.
• Many places, including Slack, X and GitHub issues, play a short MP4 as well as a GIF, at a fraction of the size. The same window makes an MP4: switch it from GIF to MP4. Or skip the window and let go on Shrink it or Small enough for email.

Other jobs for a video

Grab a picture saves a still as a JPG. Just the sound saves the audio as an M4A. Make it an MP4 turns a .mov into an MP4 that plays everywhere. Each makes a new file beside the video.

Without Drip

macOS has no menu item for this. The Shortcuts app has a Make GIF action you can build a shortcut around, and free apps such as Gifski do it well. Drip’s way starts from the notch, with the trim and settings in one window.