Crop GIF Online – Choose the Area, Keep the Animation
Chat shortcut: /cropgif
Crop GIF in three steps: upload a GIF, choose an aspect ratio or drag the frame in “Free”, download the cropped GIF. The animation keeps playing within the crop.
No Sign-Up
Free · Input and result are automatically deleted 24 hours after upload.
What happens when cropping and when you need it
An animated GIF consists of many single frames. When cropping, the same crop box is applied to each of them, and everything outside it is dropped. Display time and order of the frames are kept; the result is re-encoded with a newly calculated color palette (up to 256 colors), individual shades can shift slightly in the process, and it plays as an endless loop, even if the original had only a fixed number of repeats.
Typical cases: a reaction GIF as a square profile picture, a screen recording with too much desktop, a landscape clip for the portrait format of a story. Cropping removes image content at the edges, which also makes the pixel dimensions smaller. If the whole image should stay and only get smaller, “GIF Resizer” is the right tool; to shorten it, use “Cut GIF”.
How it works
- 1
Upload a GIF
Drag the GIF into the box or select it, animated or as a single frame, up to 30 MB, 2 minutes running time, 4,000 pixels per side and 8 megapixels.
- 2
Set the crop
Choose 1:1, 16:9, 9:16, 4:5 or 4:3 and the position (center, left or top, right or bottom), or, in “Free”, drag the crop box into place on the first frame. The crop's dimensions in pixels are shown below it.
- 3
Download
After “Let’s go” you download the cropped GIF or continue right away under “Continue with”.
Good to know
- Input and output: GIF, animated or as a single frame; up to 30 MB, 2 minutes running time, 4,000 pixels per side and 8 megapixels.
- In “Free”, left, top, width and height can also be typed in as pixels; 0 for width or height means “to the edge”. Width and height are rounded down to even values, so the result can differ from the input by one pixel.
- Every single frame is cropped the same way; display time and order remain as in the original. The result is encoded with a newly calculated palette (up to 256 colors) and plays as an endless loop.
- Processed on our server; input and result are deleted after 24 hours (hourly cleanup job; an input that a more recent job is still using stays until that job’s deadline).
- Free, no sign-up and no watermark.
Frequently asked questions
Is the animation preserved?
Yes. Every frame of the GIF is cropped with the same box; display time and order stay unchanged. The result plays as an endless loop, even if the original stopped after a fixed number of runs.
How does “Free” work?
After uploading, a crop box appears on the first frame of the GIF that you can move and resize. The dimensions of the crop are shown below it, and the pixel values can also be typed in. Width and height are rounded down to even numbers.
Which aspect ratio do I need for what?
1:1 for profile pictures, 9:16 for stories and portrait format, 16:9 for landscape players, 4:5 for portrait posts in the feed. The platforms’ requirements can change.
Does the file get smaller?
Usually yes, because less image area is stored per frame. Because the GIF is re-encoded with a new palette in the process, in individual cases the file can also stay the same size or get slightly larger. If the savings are not enough, “GIF Compressor” or converting to MP4 helps afterward.
Do the colors change?
The tool calculates a new palette with up to 256 colors from all frames and applies it with dithering. With most GIFs this is hardly noticeable; with fine gradients, individual shades can shift slightly.
What is the difference from “GIF Resizer”?
Cropping removes image content at the edges and makes the GIF smaller that way. Resizing scales the whole image to smaller pixel dimensions and keeps all the content. Both can be combined one after the other under “Continue with”.
What happens to my file?
Input and result sit on our server for 24 hours and are then removed by an hourly cleanup job; an input you have meanwhile used in another tool stays until that job’s deadline. Cropping is free and needs no account.