Sometimes you don’t want to share a photo on Instagram. You also don’t want to share a video. What you want is to share a GIF, a memorable, LOL-worthy loop that lies somewhere between the too. Unfortunately, manyphones don’t let you save or record GIFs to your camera roll. So, how are you supposed to share it?

How to upload a GIF to Instagram

If you’re familiar with Giphy, it’s pretty easy. Giphy has a button below its GIFs that let you share them to Instagram. What Giphy does is automatically convert the GIF into a 15-second .mp4 file. This makes it compatible with Instagram’s upload guidelines.When you tap that button, then enter your email address, Giphy will email you the file, which you can then save and post to Instagram (or wherever else you want).

GIF via Giphy

If you don’t want to use Giphy, there are other optionsnamely, GIF-to-video converter apps. On Android, you can use an app such as GIF to Video(free).

Screengrab via Google Play

On iOS, you can use GifVID ($0.99). Both of these apps give you a handful of editing options, as well as simply converting a GIF file into an Instagram-friendly video.

Screengrab via iTunes


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Once you’ve got a GIF converted to video, simply open Instagram, and then find the video in your camera roll. Then, you can upload it and edit it further, if you choose.

Now that Instagram’s parent company Facebook fully embraces GIFs, it’s possible that this workaround may be moot in the future. However, for now, this is what you have to do.

Need more help? Here’show to clear your search history on Instagramandhow to tell if someone blocked you on Instagram. You can alsodisconnect Facebook from Instagramorunblock someone. For more tips, see our ultimate beginner’s guide to Instagram.

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