How to Download GIFs on Gfycat

Evan Gower June 16, 2021

GIFs (short for Graphical Interchange Format) are files that get used for light video sharing. Although GIFs have been around for decades, they have seen a huge comeback thanks to social media, particularly Instagram. The Instagram Stories feature has become the new home of GIFs as they are fun, lightweight, and easy to use.

However, using GIFs outside the typical ‘Facebook Messenger’ and ‘Instagram Stories’ environments is an entirely different scenario. Gfycat is one of the most popular GIF services that lets you browse interesting GIFs and even upload, create, and share your files.

Video vs GIF

In the age of streaming services, people aren’t used to having the option to download a video file directly unless they use YouTube Premium and Disney+, for instance, which offer the download feature. Aside from specific streaming services, a third-party video downloader is generally required, or you can’t keep any videos. Gfycat not only lets you download any video you want; you also do it in three easy clicks or literally, as you would save an image—right-click -> Save video as -> Save.

Although third-party video downloaders successfully save the desired media to your PC and allow you to play it with your preferred media player, GIFs are much more convenient forms for short videos. For one, GIFs are much smaller in size, which means that uploading them won’t take too long—very suitable for sharing via chat. Additionally, GIF files work in MS Word documents (only shows still images), just like photos. It is that simple. When it comes to short videos, GIFs take the cake.

Downloading GIFs from Gfycat

Although technically, you can download a video from Gfycat and use a third-party program to convert it to a GIF, you can directly download a short video as a GIF from the site. Gfycat is primarily intended for GIFs, but the video file download process is pretty straightforward.

Downloading GIFs Directly from Gfycat

Open the video that you want to download as a GIF file.
Navigate to the panel on the bottom, far right section of the screen. Click on the “More Share Options” icon, which is the last one on the far right.
The screen that now appears over the video features more sharing options. Click on “GIFS” at the bottom of the video frame.
Choose “Small Gif…” for media sharing from your device or “Large Gif…” for saving a higher quality animated GIF image to use and watch on your PC or for other similar uses.
Paste the copied link to a new browser tab and press “Enter” to load the animated image URL.
Right-click on the image and select “Save Image As…” to download it to your device.
You can now view or share the animated GIF you downloaded by uploading it to your chosen source or opening it on your device.

Downloading GIFs from Gfycat by Sharing to Social Media

Aside from directly downloading media as a GIF animated image, you can also share it as an animated GIF to Facebook, Instagram, and more. Here’s how to do it.

Open the video that you want to share on social media as an animated GIF.
On the right side of the screen, choose your social sharing option, such as “Facebook,” “Twitter,” “Copy”, “Embed,” etc.
A new framed window appears. For social media, follow the instructions (log in, share button, etc.) on the screen to share the content. For “Embed,” simply paste the code into your website HTML. For “Copy,” paste the GIF link into your desired application.
Your social media share, HTML embed process, or copy/paste process now displays the animated GIF wherever you placed it.

With so many GIF websites out there, you really have plenty of options. If you’re looking for a GIF file that weighs less than 2MB, Gfycat is the right place to come to. Additionally, most GIF websites don’t feature short video files, which is another thing Gfycat excels at.