Compress GIF to 256 KB
A custom emoji has to be tiny twice over: a few dozen pixels on screen and no more than 256 KB on disk. This page scales a GIF to emoji width and trims it until it fits that budget.
Video Converter
or drop MP4, MOV, MKV … files here ·
Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes
Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.
Lower is better quality and a bigger file. 18 looks identical to the source, 23 is the default, 28 and above shows visible softening.
Frames per second. Keep the source rate unless a platform asks for a specific one; 15–20 fps is plenty for GIFs.
Only used for PowerPoint files and single still images: how long each slide or picture stays on screen.
Auto uses AAC for MP4/MOV and Opus for WebM. Copy keeps the original sound untouched when the new format supports it.
192 kbps is transparent for music; 128 kbps is enough for speech.
Width of the animation in pixels; height follows the aspect ratio. 480 px suits chats, 720 px or more gives a high-quality GIF but a much larger file.
GIF holds at most 256 colors. Fewer colors make a smaller file but cause banding on gradients and skin tones.
Mixes palette colors in a fine pattern to hide banding. Sierra gives the smoothest result; none gives the smallest file.
Whether the animation repeats endlessly or plays one time and stops.
Optional. Seconds (e.g. 75) or minutes:seconds (1:15). Leave empty to start at the beginning.
Optional. Same format as the start time. Leave empty to keep everything up to the end.
The converted file will be at or just under this size.
How to use this tool
- 1
Upload the animation
Add a GIF, or a short MP4, WebM or animated WebP clip to turn into one. Up to 20 files at a time.
- 2
Check width and limit
Width starts at 128 px and Maximum size at 256 KB. Use Start at and End at to keep just the two or three seconds that make the reaction.
- 3
Convert and upload
Press Convert to GIF, download the file and add it in your server's emoji settings.
Upload the GIF and press Convert to GIF: it is scaled to 128 px wide, and the width and palette are reduced further if needed until the file is 256 KB or less.
Why 256 KB is the number for emoji
Chat apps load every emoji in a channel at once, often dozens per screen, so they cap each file hard. Discord set its custom emoji limit at 256 KB, and Slack's is lower still. A GIF from a reaction site is typically 480 px wide or more and runs for several seconds, which puts it in the megabytes.
GIF has no motion compression: each frame is stored as an indexed image packed with LZW, the dictionary method Terry Welch published in 1984. Shrinking the frame from 480 px to 128 px wide cuts the pixel count per frame by more than 90 percent, which is why width does most of the work here.
Emoji and sticker file limits by app
| Organisation | Requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Discord custom emoji | Up to 256 KB; 128 × 128 px recommended; GIF allowed for animated emoji | — |
| Discord stickers | Up to 512 KB at 320 × 320 px | — |
| Slack custom emoji | Square image under 128 KB; set Maximum size to 128 KB for Slack | — |
GIF
Graphics Interchange Format
GIF was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and is still the most widely supported format for short, looping animations. It is lossless but limited to a palette of 256 colours per frame, so photos and gradients show banding and dithering. It supports only on/off (1-bit) transparency, which leaves jagged edges on curved shapes. Animated GIFs are often far larger than the same clip as MP4 or WebP. Every browser, chat app and social platform plays GIFs.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- Yes
- Introduced
- 1987 · CompuServe
GIF
Graphics Interchange Format
GIF was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and is still the most widely supported format for short, looping animations. It is lossless but limited to a palette of 256 colours per frame, so photos and gradients show banding and dithering. It supports only on/off (1-bit) transparency, which leaves jagged edges on curved shapes. Animated GIFs are often far larger than the same clip as MP4 or WebP. Every browser, chat app and social platform plays GIFs.
- Compression
- Lossless
- Transparency
- Yes
- Animation
- Yes
- Introduced
- 1987 · CompuServe
A GIF is squeezed to 256 KB to become an emoji or a chat reaction, where the platform enforces a kilobyte ceiling and shows the image at a few dozen pixels, so width and frame count can drop far below anything a normal GIF uses.
How to get a GIF under 256 KB
Narrow the frame
128 px is enough for an emoji. Every halving of width removes three quarters of the pixels.
Shorten the loop
Keep only the gesture that matters. A two-second loop at 12 to 15 fps is around 30 frames.
Trim the palette
Drop Colors to 64 or 32 for flat art. Photos need 128 or more to avoid posterized skin.
With Limit file size switched on, the converter applies these steps for you, lowering width and colors until the GIF fits; trimming the clip is the one choice it leaves to you, because only you know which moment matters. For a GIF meant for a chat message rather than an emoji, compress GIF for Discord works to the 10 MB attachment limit instead.
The same kilobyte thinking applies to still images: the guide to reducing image size in KB explains why dimensions beat quality settings. If you are building the animation from a video clip, the video to GIF tool gives finer control over frame rate before you compress.
Compress GIF to 256 KB: questions
Why does Discord say my emoji file is too big?
Discord accepts custom emoji up to 256 KB, and a GIF saved straight from a meme site is usually several megabytes. Upload it here with Maximum size at 256 KB and the result passes the check.
What dimensions should an animated emoji GIF have?
Discord recommends 128 × 128 px, which is why Width starts at 128 here. A wide clip keeps its aspect ratio, so crop it to a square first if you want it to fill the emoji box.
Can a 10-second GIF fit into 256 KB?
Rarely with smooth motion. Ten seconds at 15 fps is 150 frames, and each 128 × 128 frame holds 16,384 pixels before compression. Cut the clip to its key two or three seconds with Start at and End at, or drop Frame rate to 10 fps.
Why does my compressed GIF look grainy at emoji size?
That speckle is dithering, which mixes palette colors to fake gradients. At 128 px it costs bytes and shows as noise, so set Dithering to None for flat cartoon art and keep Sierra only for faces and photos.
Do I need Nitro to use animated emoji?
Server members with the Manage Expressions permission can add an animated emoji to a server without Nitro. Posting animated emoji in messages, on the other hand, is a Nitro feature, so free members see them but cannot send them.