Screenshots and recording

How to turn a Mac screen recording into a GIF

Updated 25 October 2026 · 3 min read

macOS cannot save a screen recording as a GIF. Here is how to do it free with ffmpeg in Terminal, what makes GIFs large, and how Orrel makes a GIF from a recording or any video in a couple of clicks.

A GIF is still the easiest way to show a short interaction in a README, a bug report or a chat that does not autoplay video. macOS records the screen as a MOV file and offers no GIF export, so you need one more step.

Record the right thing first

Most of a good GIF happens before conversion. Press ⇧⌘5 and choose Record Selected Portion, then drag an area just around the part you want to show. A small area and a short recording, a few seconds, make a GIF that loads quickly and reads clearly.

To cut the start and end, open the recording in QuickTime Player, choose Edit › Trim (⌘T), drag the yellow handles and click Trim, then save.

Convert with ffmpeg

ffmpeg is a free command-line video tool. Install it with Homebrew (brew install ffmpeg), then run:

ffmpeg -i recording.mov \
  -vf "fps=12,scale=960:-1:flags=lanczos,split[a][b];[a]palettegen[p];[b][p]paletteuse" \
  recording.gif

What the parts do:

• fps=12 keeps 12 frames a second. Screen interactions rarely need more, and every frame adds size.
• scale=960:-1 makes it 960 pixels wide and keeps the proportions. Retina recordings are twice the size you see, so scaling down matters.
• palettegen and paletteuse build a 256-colour palette from your actual video instead of a generic one, which avoids the banding and speckle GIFs are known for.

Add -ss 2 -t 6 before -i to start two seconds in and keep six seconds.

Keeping GIFs small

• Shorter. Size grows with every second. Show one action, not the whole task.
• Smaller. Halving the width roughly quarters the pixels.
• Calmer. Scrolling and video playback change every pixel in every frame and make GIFs balloon. Clicks in a mostly still window compress well.
• Plain backgrounds. A solid desktop compresses far better than a photo wallpaper.

How Orrel does it

When you stop a recording made with ⌥⇧⌘5, Orrel offers to trim it, then Make GIF. The GIF is written beside the MP4, so you keep both, and you can copy either straight into a message or drag it into an issue.

For a video you already have, Control-click it in Orrel, drop it on Orrel's Dock icon, or use Finder's Quick Actions, and choose GIF from the ring of conversions. The same ring compresses, trims and converts MOV and MP4, or extracts the audio.

If you use an AI assistant connected to Orrel, "turn the screen recording on my Desktop into a GIF" does the same thing on your Mac.

Where Orrel stops

A GIF made from a recording covers up to 30 seconds, which is about the most a GIF should be. Orrel does not offer frame-by-frame editing, captions, or fine control over palette and dithering; if you need those, ffmpeg or a dedicated GIF tool gives you every setting. GIF cannot carry sound, so if the audio matters, send the MP4.