Twitter GIF downloader
Paste a post that contains a GIF. You get the original animation as a light MP4 file that plays and loops almost anywhere.
Example: https://x.com/user/status/123456789
- Fast
- Free
- No registration
How to use it
Copy the GIF post link
The post itself, not the GIF picker in the app.
Paste it above
We detect the animation and its size.
Save the animation
It downloads as MP4 — see below why.
GIFs on X are really videos
The GIF format dates from 1987. It is limited to 256 colours per frame and compresses motion poorly, so animations quickly become several megabytes. To keep timelines fast, Twitter began converting every uploaded GIF into a short, silent H.264 video years ago, and X still does this today. The animation looks the same, but the file is typically five to ten times smaller.
That is why a GIF you save here ends in .mp4. It is not a mistake or a conversion we add — it is the exact file X keeps and plays back as a GIF in its apps.
Finding the right link for a GIF
GIFs are often posted as replies, so the animation you want may live several levels deep in a conversation. Open the reply that shows the GIF on its own — tap it in the app or click its date on the web — and copy that link with Share → Copy link. The link of the original post at the top of the conversation will not work, because the GIF is attached to the reply, not to the post it answers. GIFs from X’s built-in GIF search work just like uploaded ones once they are posted.
Using a downloaded GIF
Most places where you would share a GIF accept the MP4 just as happily:
- Messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal send short silent videos and often display them like GIFs.
- In VLC, turn on Loop (the circular arrow button); in QuickTime, choose View → Loop.
- In PowerPoint or Keynote, insert the MP4 and enable "Loop until stopped" to get a looping animation in a slide.
- When reposting on social networks, credit the original creator and follow the platform’s rules on reuse.
Converting back to a real .gif file
Some forums, older chat tools and design programs only accept .gif. You can convert the MP4 locally with the free tool FFmpeg. Generating a colour palette first gives much better results than a direct conversion:
- ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos,palettegen" palette.png
- ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i palette.png -lavfi "fps=15,scale=480:-1:flags=lanczos[x];[x][1:v]paletteuse" output.gif
Expect the .gif to be noticeably larger than the MP4. Lowering the frame rate (fps) or the width keeps it manageable.
No sound by design
GIFs never carry audio, so the downloaded file is silent. If the animation you saw on X had sound, it was uploaded as a regular video rather than a GIF; it still downloads the same way, and you will get the audio track as well.
Frequently asked questions
X converts every uploaded GIF into a small MP4 video to save bandwidth. We give you that original file, which looks identical and is far smaller than a .gif.
Turn on the loop option in your player — the loop button in VLC or View → Loop in QuickTime. Messaging apps that show short videos as GIFs loop them automatically.
No. Direct messages are private, and we only work with media in public posts.
X limits the dimensions of GIF uploads and stores them at that size. We deliver exactly what X keeps, without enlarging it.
Other tools
- X Video DownloaderSave videos from x.com post links in every available quality.
- Twitter Video DownloaderWorks with old twitter.com links and embedded tweets.
- Twitter to MP4Get a standard MP4 file that plays in any player or editor.
- Twitter Image DownloaderDownload photos from posts at their original resolution.