Is it possible to post a GIF on Instagram? Guide: upload your own GIFs to the GIF stickers section of Instagram Stories. Why don't GIFs work or not on Instagram?

Instagram is one of the most actively developing platforms, whose developers regularly present new options and opportunities to the public. So, in 2017, an important event took place for the entire blogger community: Stories acquired the function of publishing animated pictures and images - gifs. Next, we’ll look in detail at what a GIF is on Instagram and tell you how to add it.

Features of using GIF

GIF on Instagram is the most relevant and trendy format for presenting information, activating visual perception. With its help, you can easily share feelings, emotions and experiences with the public, increasing its reach and increasing activity. Currently, it is at the peak of popularity and is an effective tool for promotion and attracting new subscribers.

GIFs are animated pictures and images. About ten years ago, they were used everywhere, replacing standard videos that were familiar to modern users. The rapid development of innovative services and mobile technologies has pushed GIF files into the background, forcing them to give way to something newer and more interesting. However, last year Instagram brought them back to their former glory by adding them as stickers in the Stories section.

Today, GIF stickers are actively used by Instagram bloggers for:

  • creating bright and colorful content;
  • visualization of text messages;
  • more emotional presentation of information;
  • attracting new subscribers;
  • greater coverage of the audience, increasing its activity.

When used correctly, GIFs turn into an effective commercial tool that can stimulate sales and popularize a product on social networks. There are a huge number of areas for their application.

GIF stickers for Stories

Typically, Instagram users use GIFs when posting Stories. They allow you to diversify your content, make it more vivid and memorable.

Step-by-step instructions on how to attach a GIF to Instagram Story:

How to find a GIF on Instagram

GIPHY is the most powerful library of GIF files on the Internet. It is with him that Instagram supports integration, allowing its users to post funny memes and pictures.

Step-by-step instructions on how to search for GIFs on Instagram:

Instagram offers users an extensive GIF gallery, but you don't have to use it. You can add your own animated sticker and potentially get multi-million dollar reach. We'll tell you how to upload a GIF to Instagram below.

Create a GIF in 3 steps

Step #1

As noted above, GIFs on Instagram work on the basis of the electronic library of animated files GIPHY, so, first of all, you will need to create an account in this service and go through the verification procedure. The good news is that it’s easy and doesn’t take much time. The bad thing is that a blogger with a small number of subscribers will not be able to verify his profile.

After passing verification, you automatically gain access to all the tools of the service, you can interact with its artists and designers, and order the development of GIFs from them.

Step-by-step instructions on how to register in the service:

  1. Follow the link - giphy.com/join/apply/brand
  2. Fill in all blank lines
  3. Check the box next to “Register as a brand/artist.”

After completing registration, fill in your personal information and wait until verification is completed.

Step #2

After passing verification, you can start downloading copyrighted GIFs. Please note that GIFs will only appear in IG Stories when posted as stickers.

When creating GIF stickers, you must follow the following rules:

  • must be in GIF format (APNG is not currently supported)
  • minimum size – 500-600 pixels, even height and width
  • mandatory color mode – RGB
  • When exporting, you need to loop the GIF.

When adding a custom sticker pack, be sure to include tags and a description so that other users can use it later. It is believed that each GIF sticker should contain from 5 to 10 tags.

Since stickers are small images, GIPHY recommends making them visually clear. At the same time, bright and funny animations are the most popular among the public. By keeping these things in mind, you can create a trending GIF sticker pack.

Step #3

Once you've downloaded your stickers, check to see if they show up in general search on Instagram. To do this, enter a key phrase or tag into the appropriate line and click on the “Find” button.

The experience of large Instagram channels shows that a full download of a pack of stickers takes about a week. After the specified time has passed, all published GIFs begin to appear in keyword searches.

Is it possible to post a GIF in the main feed?

Instagram allows its users to freely share photos and videos. As for GIF files, it will not be possible to publish them on a social network page - they will be posted as standard static images and will lose all their attractiveness. In this case, there are a number of third-party services and applications that offer to convert a GIF into a video.

A selection of applications for publishing GIF files on Instagram:

  1. Maker for Instagram - iOS-based, free, includes in-app purchases
  2. GifLab – available for Apple products, price in the App Store – $1.99, no advertising
  3. GIFHY CAM – suitable for Android smartphones, distributed free of charge.

Step-by-step instructions for using such applications using “Maker for Instagram” as an example:


After completing these steps, all that remains is to save the video to your smartphone by clicking on the button located in the lower left corner of the screen.

From the gallery you can add it to any social network in the standard way.

Impress your Instagram followers with GIF animation. Let's figure out how to add a GIF to Instagram.

GIF animation is everywhere. She's on Twitter, Tumblr and Reddit - but what about Instagram? Is it even possible to post a GIF on Instagram?

The answer is... yes and no. Let me explain:

No - because Instagram does not currently support uploading .gif images or playing GIF animations. But yes, because Instagram has a separate app that you can use to create short video clips that look exactly like GIF animations.

So, if you have a collection of .gif images in a directory on your device, you can start uploading them to Twitter, Tumblr and all other social networks that support the GIF format. However, if you want to record your own GIF-style video using your device's camera, then you need to learn about an Instagram app called Boomerang (free for iOS and Android).

How can Boomerang help you create GIF-style videos for Instagram?

Boomerang is a very easy to use app that doesn't have a lot of features, but its simplicity makes it easy to use regularly. After downloading the app, in order to start shooting your first GIF video, you need to allow the app access to your camera.

Simply select the front or rear camera, point the camera at what you want to shoot and press the white button.

The way Boomerang works is it takes 10 photos very quickly, which are then stitched together and rendered faster and smoother. The result is a mini-video (without sound, of course) that looks exactly like a GIF and plays non-stop.

How to post this mini video on Instagram?

You'll be shown a preview of the mini-video and then given the option to share it on Instagram, Facebook, or whatever app you're using.

Selecting upload to Instagram will launch the official Instagram app with a mini video already downloaded and ready to edit.

What's interesting is that Boomerang's posts, while still videos, don't have the little camera icon in the top right corner of the thumbnail or when loading like regular videos do. This little feature makes the mini-video feel even more like a real GIF animation, and not just another short video that you have to turn on the sound to watch in full screen!

Don't forget to try other Instagram apps

Boomerang is just one of many standalone Instagram apps that make photos and videos more interesting and fun.

Try the Layout app (free for iOS and Android), which makes it easy to create interesting photo collages with up to nine different images.

There's also Hyperlapse (free for iOS only, no Android version at the moment), which you can use to shoot video at speed, like slow motion. Hyperlapse uses advanced stabilization technology to smooth out the impact of slow-motion footage, so the results look very professional.

So now you have a whole range of new tools you can experiment with to take your Instagram posts to the next level.

Although the video created in Boomerang is not a true GIF animation, it looks exactly the same. And that's all that matters!

How to upload a GIF to Instagram?

GIF animation has taken its place on the Internet. Often, one GIF can replace a long comment or answer a question. Thanks to them, people express their emotions more accurately, and also create cool dialogues in chats. And the best thing is, with a GIF you can enliven your photo by adding cool effects, such as moving clouds, a flowing river, falling petals, and so on. But, unfortunately, Instagram does not allow you to upload GIF files with animation. If you try to do this, you will get one picture consisting of the first frame of this animation. However, there is a workaround for this drawback, which I will show below and answer the question - “ how to upload a gif on instagram?”.

GIF animation is a small clip with changing frames. In fact, this is the same video, compiled in a special format. Accordingly, you can simply create a video from a GIF and use it for a post. Videos in user feeds play automatically and cyclically (shown again at the end), which is a definite plus if you decide to make a video gif.

Fortunately, there is a simple and free service with which you can easily turn any GIF into a video in a few clicks. The service is called Convertio. You can use it both from a PC and from a mobile device. Just upload your GIF into it (or paste a link to it), select a format if it is not selected, and click the “Convert” button. The service will convert your GIF animation into video and save it on your device.


Please note that Instagram allows you to upload videos from 3 to 60 seconds in length. If your GIF is less than three seconds long, you can create 2 or more video files and then stitch them together to create a video that is longer than 3 seconds. You can read about how to do this quickly and conveniently in the post - “How to merge several videos into one? "

That's all. If you still have questions about how to upload a GIF to Instagram, write in the comments and I will answer them.

To make your Instagram stories interesting and attract more attention, you need to actively use various graphic elements. For example, gifs. With their help, you can express emotions and create the right mood, which is why your publications are perceived in the right context. But Instagram offers a limited set of GIFs, which are often not enough to express the desired emotions. In this post I talk about how to add your own.

If you try to add a GIF image from the device's gallery to your Instagram story, you will get a static image from one frame of the GIF animation. That's just the format. To add an animated GIF, you must either use the set of existing animations that Instagram offers, or use a third-party application or service that allows you to upload such animations to stories, after first converting them into video format. Below I will give some examples of how how to add a gif to stories on instagram.

How to add gifs from the Instagram set to stories?

To add a GIF from an existing set to your Instagram story, add a GIF sticker and then select the appropriate animation. You can use the search to make things easier for yourself.



GIFs, like other stickers, can be moved, rotated, enlarged or reduced.

How to add new GIFs to your story?

If you want to add a GIF animation to your Stories that is not available on Instagram, then you will need to install the GYPHY service application and register in it.

Once the GIF is uploaded, go to your GIPHY page and select the GIF animation you want.



The new policy of the Instagram administration in relation to GIF files has seriously changed due to the scandal. Most recently, users called “GIFs” one of the best innovations on Instagram over the past few months. However, much has changed after another “politically correct” incident in the United States. Details in our new material on the site

On March 9, 2018, the function of posting GIF animations in the social applications Instagram and Snapchat was disabled. The reason for this was the scandalous racist animation, which caused a flurry of indignation among users. The publication was leaked to social networks and led to serious consequences. Instagram representatives immediately responded to the incident.

They decided to suspend the integration of the Giphy website (it was there that the provocative file was first noticed).

Users of the social network to this day ask questions like “why don’t I have GIFs on Instagram?”, “how to add a GIF to stories?” or “what to do if gif doesn’t work?”. Instagrammers are making various attempts to figure out how to upload a GIF to their personal page. Some insta users are completely shocked by these changes. They hope that things will return to normal soon.

The sensational GIF animation was removed from the site, but its screenshot (censored version) has already managed to spread all over the Internet. In particular, she can be seen on the Instagram account @the_fact_you_dont_know.

The publication looks like this:

  • Approximate meaning of the image: "Count of deaths due to crime [of black people]."

We invite you to read the commentary of a representative of the social network Instagram regarding this situation:

“Instagram has no place for this kind of content. We will only resume Giphy integration once the investigation is complete.”

Previously, the function of adding GIFs to Instagram and Snapchat was very popular among users. It appeared relatively recently, but this did not prevent users from quickly getting used to the opportunity to diversify personal content on the page. In other words, this innovation was received with a bang. As soon as it became known about the temporary freeze of the function, massive outrage began from users of the two social applications. Interest in this topic is growing every day. Perhaps only the laziest installers did not consider it necessary to express their opinion regarding the decision of the site administration.

Let's look at how to insert GIF animations on Instagram.

What should I do if GIFs disappear when adding a story?

  1. It often happens that the user cannot find the function of adding a GIF to a story. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Decide on the file to post in your story, click “next” and scroll the slider below. In this place you will find a “GIF” item. This is exactly what you are looking for. Now you know how to post a GIF on Instagram.
  2. You may need to install a new update on your device. You have to wait for him. There is no other way out of the situation.
  3. Your device is outdated and does not support updates to the popular social network.

Most often, iPhone users complain about the lack of GIFs. In this case, it would be advisable to switch to the Android operating system.