TapeBoothHow to make a GIF of your screen
A GIF plays by itself, loops, and drops into a chat, a bug report, a slide or a README without a video player. To record a GIF of your screen in Chrome, record a short clip, trim it to the moment that matters, and export it as a GIF. TapeBooth does all three on your computer, free.
Record a GIF in six steps
- Add TapeBooth to Chrome. You can skip the camera and microphone on the welcome page: a GIF has no sound.
- Open what you want to show, click the TapeBooth button, and choose This tab or Window or screen. Recording just a tab or a window keeps the GIF tightly framed.
- Press Start recording, pick the tab or window in Chrome's dialog, and do the thing you want to show. Click rings mark each click so viewers can follow.
- Press Stop. The editor opens with your recording.
- Trim the start and end to the part you want: move the playhead and choose Start here and End here, or press I and O. Cut out pauses in the middle with Split and Remove part, and blur anything private.
- Choose Export, then GIF. Pick the width, the frame rate and the part to export, check the estimated size, and export. The GIF downloads when it's done.
Choosing the settings
| Frame rate | Longest GIF | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 5 frames per second | 2 minutes | Slow walkthroughs, typing, form filling |
| 10 frames per second (default) | 60 seconds | Most clicks and menus |
| 15 frames per second | 40 seconds | Scrolling and animation |
- Width: 480, 640 (default) or 960 px. 640 px is sharp enough for most chats and documents; 960 px for detail, at a much bigger file.
- Size: the dialog estimates the file size and warns above 25 MB, a common upload limit. Shorter clips, a lower frame rate and a smaller width all shrink it.
- Defaults: set your usual format, width and frame rate under Export defaults in TapeBooth's Settings.
Tips for a GIF people actually watch
- Keep it short. Five to fifteen seconds that show one thing loop well and stay small.
- Move the mouse slowly and pause for a beat after each click.
- Make the window smaller before you record, so text stays readable at 640 px.
- GIFs use up to 256 colours per frame, so photos and gradients look grainy. For anything long, colourful or with sound, export an MP4 instead.
GIF or MP4?
Choose a GIF for a short, silent loop that should play anywhere without a click. Choose MP4 for anything with sound, anything longer than a minute, or anything that needs to look sharp: it's far smaller for the same length. Both are free in TapeBooth, with no watermark.