How to crop a GIF
When you crop a GIF here, the animation stays intact and every frame keeps its timing. It takes four steps:
- Drop the GIFDrag it onto the page, tap Choose files, or paste it with Ctrl/⌘ + V. On this page the crop box opens once the GIF loads. Anywhere else, tap Adjust next to Crop.
- Pick a ratioUnder Crop, choose Free, 1:1, 16:9, 9:16 or 4:5. The box jumps to that shape, centered on the GIF.
- Move and resize the boxDrag inside the box to move it, or drag a corner to resize it. With a ratio picked, the box keeps its shape. Reset puts it back in the center.
- Tap Done and checkThe preview plays again with your crop. Watch the whole loop to make sure nothing important slides out of frame, then tap Export GIF.
Which crop ratio to use
| Ratio | Shape | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 1:1 | Square | Avatars, emoji, emotes and square posts |
| 4:5 | Tall portrait | Feed posts on phones, where it fills more of the screen than a square |
| 9:16 | Full-height vertical | Phone screens, Stories, Reels and TikTok (as an MP4) |
| 16:9 | Widescreen | Slides, docs and screen recordings |
| Free | Any shape | Trimming borders, black bars or empty space |
Instagram and TikTok are built for photos and video, not GIF files. After you crop to 9:16 or 4:5 for them, turn the result into a video with GIF to MP4. Want a caption on the cropped version? Add text to a GIF in the same editor before you export.
Square crops for avatars and emoji
A square is the most common reason to crop a GIF. Discord and many other apps show profile pictures as a circle, which cuts off the corners of your square. Keep the face or subject near the middle, with a little room around it.
- Discord avatar: as of October 2026, Discord's help center says you need Nitro to use an animated GIF as your avatar. Crop to 1:1 and center the subject.
- Discord emoji: must be under 256 KB. The Emoji Fit in Where it fits crops a centered square and sizes it to 128 px in one tap. If your subject is off to one side, tap Fit first, then tap Adjust and move the box.
- Twitch emotes and Slack emoji: both want squares. Twitch caps animated emotes at 1 MB and 60 frames, and Slack suggests staying under 128 KB.
At emoji size, crop close. A face that fills the square still reads at 128 px, while a whole room turns into a smudge. For clean edges on any chat theme, cut out the background with the transparent GIF maker, and see the Discord GIF maker for server-ready sizes.
Crop first, then resize
Cropping removes pixels from every frame, so it usually makes the file smaller too. Cutting the black bars off a screen recording, or the empty sky above your dog, saves space without touching the part people look at. For more ways to shrink a file, see the GIF compressor.
One thing to know: DropGIF won't stretch a crop back up. If you crop a 200 px wide area out of a 480 px GIF, the result is at most 200 px wide, even with 480 picked under Size. Set the box first, then choose a width with the GIF resizer.
One box covers the whole GIF. The crop sits in the same place on every frame, so it can't follow a subject that moves across the picture. Make the box big enough for the whole path, or remove the frames where the subject leaves it in the Frames strip.
Crop works the same way on a video; start from video to GIF. For a slideshow, the GIF maker from photos adds a choice between Fill, which crops each photo to the frame, and Fit whole, which shows all of it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I crop an animated GIF?
Drop it into DropGIF, pick a ratio under Crop or drag the crop box, then tap Export GIF. Every frame is cropped the same way and keeps its timing.
How do I crop a GIF into a square?
Choose 1:1 under Crop, then drag the box over the part you want. For a 128 px Discord emoji, the Emoji Fit in Where it fits makes the square and sets the size in one tap.
Can I crop a GIF into a circle?
Not directly. GIFs are rectangles, and DropGIF crops rectangles. Crop to 1:1 with the subject centered, since apps like Discord turn avatars into circles on their own.
Can I crop each frame differently?
No. One crop box applies to every frame. If the subject moves, make the box big enough to cover its whole path.
Does cropping a GIF make the file smaller?
Usually, because every frame has fewer pixels to store. It's often the gentlest way to cut file size, since you only lose the parts you didn't want.
Is my GIF uploaded when I crop it?
No. DropGIF crops the GIF in your browser, so it never leaves your device. It's free, with no watermark or sign-up.