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JPG to GIF Converter

Turn JPG files into GIF in a couple of clicks. JPG is the universal lossy photo format; GIF is a 256-colour animated format, still ubiquitous. Some detail is discarded to fit the target format; how much depends on the format and your settings.

Not uploaded to any serverConverted on this deviceGone when you close the tabHow this works

Drop your files here

JPG files (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jfif) · up to 120 MB each

or paste files from your clipboard

Ready when you are

Drop a JPG file above and FileTools360 will turn it into GIF — right here on your device, without uploading anything.

⌘K to search converters

How to use it

1
Add your JPG files
Drag them onto the drop area, choose them from your device, or paste them from your clipboard. You can queue several at once. Nothing is sent anywhere — the file stays on this device.
2
Adjust the settings if you want to
The defaults suit most people. Open Advanced to control quality and metadata removal.
3
Convert and download
Press Convert. Everything happens on your own device — nothing is uploaded. Download files one by one, or grab them all as a ZIP.

Privacy, in plain words

Is it safe? Your JPG file is not uploaded anywhere

What “uploaded” normally means. On most online converters, pressing the button copies your file across the internet onto a computer owned by that website. That copy is what the word “upload” means, and it is the part nobody explains.

What happens instead. This site does not do it. There is no server here that receives files, so your JPG file is read, converted and handed back by the browser you are using right now. It never travels — so there is no copy to store, read, leak or hand over.

Check it yourself in ten seconds

Turn off your Wi-Fi after this page has loaded, then convert a file anyway. It still works, because everything needed is already on your device.

The longer explanation of how this works, and the full detail of what is and is not stored on the privacy page.

Why this matters more than it sounds

Photographs carry more than what is in the frame — most also carry the time, the device and often the GPS coordinates where they were taken. It matters more than it sounds, because of what images usually are:

Screenshots of private messages

conversations that included other people

Photos of ID cards and licences

the usual way people send identity documents

Screenshots of bank transfers

account details, and proof of what you paid whom

Medical scans and photographs

X-rays, results, images of a condition

A file that is never sent cannot be kept, leaked, subpoenaed or used to train anything. That is a property of how this works, not a promise about how carefully it is run.

JPG and GIF explained

JPEG is a lossy image format designed for photographs. It works by discarding detail the human eye is least likely to notice, particularly in colour and in smooth gradients, which is why it compresses photos far better than it compresses text or line art.

GIF is a 1987 format limited to a 256-colour palette per frame, with support for simple animation and one fully transparent colour. Its longevity is cultural rather than technical — nothing about it is efficient by modern standards.

Where JPG files come from: Digital cameras, phone screenshots on Android, and essentially every photo on the pre-2015 web.
Where GIF is used: Reaction images, simple UI animations, and screen recordings shared in chat.

JPG vs GIF

The two formats solve different problems, which is why converting between them involves trade-offs rather than a straight upgrade.

JPG compared with GIF
Property	Source	Target
Compression	Lossy	Lossless
Transparency	No	Yes
Animation	No	Yes
Colour limit	Full colour	256 per frame
Introduced	1992	1987
Browser support	Opens everywhere — every browser, OS and device.	Universally supported.

JPG is stronger at: Opens on literally every device, browser and application ever made. Small files for photographic content. Adjustable quality, so you control the size/fidelity trade-off.
GIF is stronger at: Animation plays anywhere without a video player. Universally supported, including in email and old forums. Lossless within its 256-colour limit.

Why convert JPG to GIF?

People make this switch when they run into the limits of JPG: the image has transparency, sharp edges, text, or you plan to edit and re-save it repeatedly. GIF is the better fit when you need a short animation that autoplays in a context where video is not allowed.

JPG limitations that prompt the switch: No transparency — there is no alpha channel at all. Visible artefacts around sharp edges and text. Every re-save degrades the image further (generation loss).
What you give up: 256 colours per frame, so photographs and gradients look banded. Enormous files compared with video — often 5–10× an equivalent MP4.

Does converting JPG to GIF reduce quality?

GIF compresses without discarding data, but it cannot represent everything a JPG file holds — it is limited to 256 colours per frame. What does not fit is discarded permanently, so converting the result back will not restore it. Keep the JPG original if it is the only copy.

Saving a JPEG at 100% quality is still lossy — it is a large file that has been through the same discarding process, not a lossless copy.

A GIF is not a video. It is a sequence of full images with no interframe compression, which is exactly why it is so large.

Measured, not estimated

What converting JPG to GIF actually costs

It depends entirely on the content: across the samples the GIF ranged from 2.2× smaller to 3.1× larger, with a middle case 1.7× larger.

Nothing came through untouched. Similarity against the input file ranged down to 0.797, where 1.000 would mean no visible change at all.

Each row is one sample chosen to isolate a property these formats treat differently.
Sample	JPG in	GIF out	Change	Similarity
Smooth gradientContinuous tone with no detail — the easiest thing to compress, and where banding shows first.	12.5 KB	39.1 KB	3.1×	0.907
Hard-edged text and UIHigh-contrast edges. This is where JPEG's ringing artefacts appear and where PNG wins.	90.9 KB	41.0 KB	−55%	0.935
Film-like noiseRandom detail. Incompressible by design — the worst case for every lossy codec.	209 KB	198 KB	−5%	0.974
Flat colour blocksLarge areas of one colour — a logo or a chart. Lossless formats should crush this.	4.9 KB	8.4 KB	+73%	0.797
Soft alpha edgeA transparent gradient. JPEG cannot store it at all, which is the single most common reason a conversion surprises someone.	14.3 KB	24.4 KB	+71%	0.972

Produced by this site's own converter. The same code that runs in your browser, at the same default settings, so these are the bytes you would download.

Samples are generated from a fixed seed rather than taken from real photographs or documents, so the corpus is reproducible and carries no licensing question — and so the numbers predict the shape of your result rather than its exact size. Measured 2026-10-01. The method, and the command that regenerates every figure on this page, are on the how it works page.

About these formats

Source

JPEG Image

The universal lossy photo format.

Extensions: .jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, .jfif
MIME type: image/jpeg
Best for: Photographs · Email and messaging · Maximum compatibility
Compatibility: Opens everywhere — every browser, OS and device.

Target

Graphics Interchange Format

256-colour animated format, still ubiquitous.

Extensions: .gif
MIME type: image/gif
Best for: Short animations · Simple graphics · Chat and forums
Compatibility: Universally supported.

Good to know

JPG to GIF Converter — questions

How do I convert JPG to GIF?

Drop your JPG file onto the area above, then press Convert. The GIF file saves straight to your device. You do not need an account, and there is no watermark.

Is it safe to convert JPG files here — are they uploaded to a server?

No, nothing is uploaded. On most online converters, pressing the button copies your file across the internet onto a computer owned by that website; it is converted there and sent back. That copy is what "upload" means, and it is the part that puts your file out of your control. This site does not do it. Your JPG file is read and converted by the browser you are using right now and never leaves this device, so there is no copy for anyone to store, read or hand over. You can prove it: turn off your Wi-Fi after this page loads and the conversion still works.

Can I convert confidential JPG files, like bank statements or contracts?

Yes, and that is the case this site was built for. Because the file never leaves your device, a confidential document is no more exposed than it is sitting in your own folder — there is no transfer, no copy on someone else's hardware, no retention period to read about and no staff with access. Nothing is logged about the file either: not its name, not its size, not its contents. The one thing worth saying plainly is that this protects the file in transit and at rest on our side, not from anything already on your own computer.

Does converting to GIF reduce quality?

Yes, though not through compression — GIF stores what it holds without discarding data, but it cannot hold everything a JPG file does. What does not fit is dropped permanently, and converting the result back will not bring it back.

How large a file can I convert?

Up to 120 MB per file for this conversion. Because the work happens in your browser, the practical limit is your device's memory — larger files work on a desktop with plenty of RAM and may fail on an older phone.

Can I convert several files at once?

Yes. Add as many as you like and press Convert All. Each file is processed independently, so one failure does not stop the rest, and you can download everything together as a ZIP.

Can I use this on my phone?

Yes. FileTools360 works in mobile browsers on iOS and Android, including choosing files straight from your camera roll. Very large images may run out of memory on a phone — those are better converted on a laptop.