Discord GIF Compressor

How to shrink a GIF for Discord

1. Choose your GIF. Tap Choose GIF, drag the file onto the box, or paste it.
2. Pick what it is for. Emoji, Sticker, Chat upload, Avatar, or Banner. For chat, set your plan so the tool aims for the right limit. If your GIF sits on one solid color, turn on Make background transparent.
3. Tap Shrink it. The tool tries a lossless repack first and only adds compression when it has to. When the green check says Fits Discord, tap Download GIF.
4. Optional: Fine-tune. Move the Quality slider or drag the trim handles. The size readout updates as you drag, and the download always matches what you see.

What we measured

We tested this page on October 16, 2026 with five GIFs we generated for the test, in desktop Chrome. Every result came in under its Discord limit, and the downloaded file matched the size shown on the page each time.

• A 3.18 MB, 600 x 600, 80 frame GIF with smooth color motion became a 237 KB emoji (64 x 64, all 80 frames kept) in 7.0 seconds, and a 500 KB sticker (320 x 320, every 2nd frame) in 18.8 seconds. It already fit as a chat upload and an avatar, so the page handed back the original file.
• A 20.3 MB, 600 x 600, 80 frame GIF made of heavy noise (close to the worst case for GIF) became 19.5 MB at full size for a free chat upload in 13.2 seconds, using light compression only.
• A 20 second, 300 frame, 18.5 MB GIF became a 330 KB sticker from its first 5 seconds in 6.9 seconds, and a 9.2 MB profile banner at 680 x 240 in 44.3 seconds.
• A 38 KB transparent emoji GIF stayed lossless for every preset, in under a second.

Times depend on your device. Phones are slower than this, and long GIFs with lots of motion take the longest.

Discord GIF limits (checked October 16, 2026)

Discord does not publish a file size cap for server banners, so this tool aims for 10 MB to match profile banners. Discord says it is experimenting with upload limits, so a few accounts may see different numbers. If Discord shows a different limit in the upload dialog, trust the dialog.

How the quality-first search works

Most GIF shrinkers crank compression until the file fits. This one goes the other way. It starts with no quality loss and steps down only as far as it has to:

1. Lossless repack. Same pixels, smarter packing. Often enough for chat uploads that are just over the limit.
2. Gentle compression that adds a little grain, raised step by step.
3. Fewer colors, then a smaller picture in 5% steps. For GIFs where each frame has its own colors (common with photos and smooth gradients), cutting colors looks blotchy, so for those the tool shrinks the picture first and cuts colors later.
4. Fewer frames, as a last resort, with the timing stretched so it plays at the same speed.

Each try is a real encode with a real measured size, and the tool keeps the highest quality one that fits. The Quality slider in Fine-tune walks the same steps, so you can trade size for sharpness yourself.

Tips for emoji and stickers

Emoji show at about 32 pixels in chat, so a short, simple loop with a clear subject reads best. A GIF that is mostly noise or film grain is hard to fit under 256 KB; trimming to the best second or two helps more than heavy compression. Stickers have to be exactly 320 × 320, so the tool crops a square from the center. If your subject is off to one side, crop the GIF first in another app.

Want to pick the crop yourself or make a still emoji from a photo? The Discord emoji maker does the square crop, checks the name and shows dark and light previews. Starting from a WebP or HEIC instead of a GIF? Static emoji can be PNG, so the WebP to PNG and HEIC to PNG converters get you a file Discord takes. For a sound to go with your new emoji, the Discord soundboard maker trims any clip to 5 seconds and under 512 KB. Every Discord limit, with sources, is on the Discord tools page.

ToolPetal is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Discord. Discord is a trademark of Discord Inc. Limits can change; we link to Discord's own pages so you can check.

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