Change the speed of a GIF

How it works

Tap or click the box and choose your GIF; if you choose several files, they all get the same speed. In "New speed", 1× is the GIF's current speed: 2× plays twice as fast and halves the length, 0.5× plays at half speed and doubles the length. Example: a 2-second GIF with 20 frames of 0.1 seconds each, set to 2×, gets frames of 0.05 seconds and finishes in 1 second. When you press "Change speed", the result line gives the old and new total length and how the change was made. In most GIFs only the frame times change and the picture is not touched. If a frame time would drop below 0.02 seconds, the tool merges neighboring frames; in that case the result line tells you how many frames are left. Save the result with the "Download" button.

This tool is also known as gif speed changer, change gif speed, speed up gif, slow down gif, gif speed, make gif faster, slow motion gif.

What is Frame delay (GIF frame time)?

In an animated GIF, how long each frame stays on screen is written into the file in hundredths of a second; this is called the frame delay or frame time. A value of 10 means 0.1 seconds, a value of 4 means 0.04 seconds. The speed of the animation comes only from these numbers: if the frames stay the same and the numbers are halved, the GIF plays twice as fast. This tool changes the speed by rewriting exactly these numbers.

What is The 0.02-second limit?

Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge deliberately slow down GIFs whose frame time is 0 or 0.01 seconds and show each such frame for 0.1 seconds; the rule exists to stop old, badly made GIFs from playing far too fast. So if you speed a GIF up too much, it ends up slower in the browser, not faster. That is why this tool never sets a frame below 0.02 seconds; when needed, it merges neighboring frames to bring the total length to the target.

What is the difference between speeding up a GIF and skipping frames?

Speeding up does not touch the number of frames, it only shortens each frame's time: a 30-frame GIF stays at 30 frames and finishes sooner. Frame skipping deletes some frames and adds each deleted frame's time to the one before it: the GIF finishes in the same time, but the motion looks choppier and the file gets smaller. This tool speeds up first and only merges frames when a frame time would fall below what the browser can play. If you want a smaller file, the frame skipping option in the GIF compressor is the better fit.

Why does a heavily sped-up GIF sometimes play slowly?

Browsers treat a frame time of 0 or 0.01 seconds as an error and show those frames for 0.1 seconds. If a GIF already has 0.04-second frames and you speed it up 4× to 0.01 seconds, it plays 2.5 times slower instead of faster. This tool avoids that trap: when a frame time would drop below 0.02 seconds, it merges two or more neighboring frames into one and still brings the total length to the factor you chose.

When frames are merged, the GIF is written again and the color palette is rebuilt from all frames; in most GIFs you cannot see the difference. When no merging is needed, the tool does not touch the image data at all and changes only the frame time bytes, so the file size does not change by even a few bytes. The result line says which way was used.

Which speed should you choose?

For reaction GIFs and short loops, 1.5× is often enough: the motion gets livelier but the eye can still follow it. In tutorial GIFs made from screen recordings, 2× cuts the waiting moments. 4× only makes sense for long, slow recordings; if you set an already fast GIF to 4×, frames get merged and the motion can look choppy.

Slowing down is for showing a quick moment in slow motion: 0.5× shows each frame twice as long, 0.25× four times as long. Because the frame count does not change, the slow motion is not smooth; you start to see the individual frames, and no in-between frames are created. The file size stays the same as the length grows, because only the times change.

Frequently asked questions

How do I speed up a GIF?

Choose the GIF in the box, pick 1.5×, 2× or 4× under "New speed" and press "Change speed". The tool shortens every frame's time by the same factor; the result line shows the old and new total length. Save the file with the "Download" button.

Can I slow down a GIF?

Yes. "0.5×" shows each frame twice as long, "0.25×" four times as long. The number of frames stays the same, so the slow motion is not smooth and the motion looks more step by step. No new frames are created in between.

Does speeding up reduce the GIF's quality?

In most GIFs, no: the tool only changes the few bytes that hold the frame times, and colors and transparency stay exactly the same. When frames have to be merged because a frame time would drop below 0.02 seconds, the GIF is written again; the result line says so clearly.

I chose 4× but the GIF did not get as fast as expected. Why?

If the GIF's frames are already very short, 4× would push the frame time below the 0.02 seconds that browsers can play. In that case the tool merges frames; the total length still drops to a quarter, but there are fewer frames. The result line tells you how many frames are left.