GIF images on Twitter are actually… not original GIF files. When an animated GIF is uploaded to Twitter, it will automatically be converted into a short .mp4 video file. Because of this, you cannot save GIFs from Twitter directly as you normally do.
The methods below will help you simplify the process and make downloading Twitter GIFs become an easy task. Let’s dive right in!
1. Save GIFs from Twitter on iPhone
To be able to download GIFs from Twitter using iPhone, you first need to install a free app called GIFwrapped. Here’s how to use this app to save GIFs.
Step 1: Launch the Twitter app, find the tweet containing the GIF you want to download. Then tap on the Share button.
Step 2: Select “Share Tweet via…”, then tap on “Copy link to Tweet”. A flash notification will inform you that the link to tweet has been copied to the clipboard.
Step 3: Open GIFwrapped and select the Search tab. Then tap on the “Use the Clipboard” option. In a wink, you’ll see the resulting GIF file. The screenshot below shows you how to save it to the Camera Roll afterward.
Step 4: the Photo apps have supported the GIF files, so you can open Camera Roll and view your animated GIFs.
GIFwrapped also has a tab named Photos to display all GIFs you have saved in the Camera Roll. Moreover, it integrates very well with iMessage, I love using this app to send GIFs and chat with my friends. If you’re a GIF enthusiast, then this must be one of your favorite apps.
SEE ALSO: Best Apps to Download Videos from Youtube, Twitter, Vimeo…
2. Save GIFs from Twitter on Android
If iOS users can download Twitter GIFs using free apps like GIFWrapped, Android users also have their own weapon. The Google Play Store has many apps that let you download GIFs in just a few steps. And in this article, I will introduce a good one named Tweet2gif.
It works just like GIFWrapped. All you need to do is launch the Twitter app, find the GIF and copy the link to Tweet (select “Copy Link to Tweet” in the tweet’s upper-right corner menu).
Once you’ve copied the link to the clipboard, open Tweet2Gif, click “Paste”, then “Download”. You can choose to download it either as a GIF file or optionally as the MP4 video file.
3. Save GIFs from Twitter to your computer (PC & Mac)
GIFs on Twitter are all actually converted to video files automatically after uploading and still being marked as GIF. So you can’t simply right-click a GIF post and select “Save image as…” as you normally do on most other sites.
Fortunately, there is an extension on the Chrome Store that makes the “Save image” option now available in the right-click menu when you perform a right-click on a Twitter GIF. If you’re using a Chromium web browser such as Google Chrome, all you have to do is install this extension named Twitter Video Assist.
Once having been added, you can start using it straight away without configuring anything. Now when you see a GIF on Twitter and want to save it, just right-click on it, then select “Save this Twitter video”. The browser will start downloading the GIF immediately, just like a normal image.
Clicking the extension’s icon on the bar, you can select “options” to do some more settings. You can choose to specify download path and file name, save GIF as GIF or MP4, save Twitter videos as MP4 or TS.
Another workaround…
If you aren’t using Chrome Browser, or don’t want to install an extra extension, here is another option. Of course, you’ll have a bit more work to do to get your GIF but don’t worry, it’s still not very time-consuming.
Step 1: Go to Twitter, copy the link to the Tweet and then go to this URL https://ezgif.com/optimize
Step 2: Paste the Tweet link in the “Paste Image URL” field. and hit Upload!
Step 3: The process will result in an mp4 video, scroll down and click “Convert to GIF”. You can also play around with a bunch of different options here such as Fram rate or size before converting. Once you hit the Convert button, it will output a GIF right beneath. Now you can save it by simply right-clicking and select “Save image as…”.
Dan is a web developer, a digital nomad, and a lifelong Apple fan. At iPhonebyte, his job is to help you get the most out of your iOS and Mac devices. Read the story about him and the website here.
Does Twitter video assist not work with an I-mac? I’m running High Sierra OS and I wanted to save Gifs from my twitter feed but its not working. will try on the dell computers at work to see if possible
Do you use Chrome? If yes, install the extension.
I used GIFwrapped to successfully save a gif from Twitter and then to send the GIF in a text. Alas, it does not seem to work on Facebook. The animated gif is only posted as a still picture. Please advise, thanks!
If you want to use it on Facebook, you may need to upload it to Giphy.com and use the link generated from there