How to Save a GIF on iPhone or iPad in 4 Easy Ways
By Jessica RegheliniUpdated on March 10, 2022
Have you ever come across an awesome GIF on a site or social media app like Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr? More than likely, you have, since GIFs are everywhere these days! If you’re interested in saving GIFs to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, we’ll show you just how to do it.
What is covered in this article:
To start out, we’ll give you general guidelines for saving GIF images from nearly any website you may be browsing on your iOS device.
Save GIFs from any website
There are two ways to save GIFs from any website – depending on the website. Sometimes, instant download buttons are readily available to you, and sometimes they aren’t. Depending on whether you see them or not, use one of these two methods to save GIFs from websites.
Method 1: with download buttons
If you find an animated image on a GIF database website like GIPHY, you may see download buttons readily available on the page that will allow you to download and save the images. We’ll explain this process first.
If you see a download button like this beside the animated image on the page you’re browsing, tap Download.
Now a widow will pop up towards the bottom of your iOS device’s screen. From the options presented in this window, select Save.
The GIF will then be saved to your iOS device’s camera roll.
If you don’t see a download button on the page, you can also save an animated image from a website another way.
Method 2: without download buttons
If you don’t see download buttons with the GIF you want to save, then tap and hold your finger on the image you’d like to save to open a window with more options.
Tap the Save icon in the window that appears in the lower half of your screen to save the image to your device’s camera roll.
That’s all you need to do to save GIF images from almost any website you might come across in the Safari browser on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. If you’re looking to save a GIF you’ve found posted on the Facebook app for iOS, we’ll show you how to do that next.
Save GIFs from Facebook
If you’re getting your GIFs from Facebook, here’s how you save them to your device.
1. Open the Facebook app, and find a GIF you’re interested in saving.
On your iPhone or iPad’s home screen, tap the Facebook icon to launch the Facebook mobile app. If you haven’t installed the app already, you can download it for free from the App Store.
Download Facebook: iOS
Then, scroll through your Facebook timeline to find a GIF one of your friends has posted that you’d be interested in saving.
2. Tap the GIF’s source at the bottom of the image.
Once you’ve found an animated GIF on Facebook that you want to download, you should see the source of the image in a bar along the bottom of the image. Tap the GIF source to open the image in a browser window on its source website.
3. You’ll see the image appear on the source website. Tap and hold on the image to indicate you’d like to save it.
When the GIF opens on its source page, tap and hold your finger on the image to access a menu with options to save or share it.
4. Tap the Save icon at the bottom to download and save the image.
In the menu window that comes up at the lower half of your screen, tap Save.
Once you complete these four easy steps, you’ll have the animation saved to your iOS camera roll.
Want to save some GIFs from Twitter too? Don’t worry, we’ll show you how to save GIFs from Twitter next!
Save GIFs from Twitter
If you’re saving GIFs from Twitter, here’s how you can save them to your device.
1. Launch the Twitter app and find a tweet with a GIF you want to save.
To start, tap the Twitter icon on your home screen to start up the app.
Download Twitter: iOS
Once you have the app open, scroll through your timeline to find a tweet with an animation you’d like to save.
2. Tap the downwards arrow icon. Then select Share Tweet Via.
When you find a tweet with an image you want to download, tap the downwards arrow you’ll see in the top right corner of the tweet.
This will open some options on your screen. From the options presented to you, tap Share Tweet Via. You’ll then be presented with even more options.
3. Additional options will appear. Tap Copy Link to Tweet.
From the sharing options that Twitter presents you with, select Copy Link To Tweet. This way, you’ll be able to paste the link into the GIF conversion software, as we’ll explain in the steps to follow.
4. Launch the Safari web browser and go to EZgif.com.
Since Twitter actually displays GIFs as videos, you’ll need to use a conversion software to turn the video into an actual GIF image. One we strongly recommend is EZgif.com. To use it, open the Safari browser that comes built into your iOS device, then navigate to the site by typing EZgif.com into the address bar.
5. Convert the tweet to a downloadable image and save it.
To start the conversion process, tap the Video to GIF button. Then, you’ll need to paste the link to the tweet that you just copied. Tap the text box to reveal a small pop-up menu, then select Paste. Once you’ve pasted the link, tap Upload Video.
Now that the video tweet has been uploaded, it’s ready to be converted. Tap Convert to GIF.
Your GIF has now been created! All that’s left is to save it to your device. To do this, scroll down and tap Save below where your final image appears.
Finally, the image you’ve created will appear on a screen on its own. To save it, hold your finger down on the image until some options appear below. Then select Save Image.
Now that you’ve saved your favorite animations from Twitter, all that’s left to do is save Tumblr GIFs. In the next section, we’ll show you how to save GIFs from the Tumblr app.
Save GIFs from Tumblr
The process of saving GIFs from Tumblr only takes 3 easy steps!
1. Open the Tumblr app on your iPhone or iPad.
From your home screen, tap the Tumblr app icon to start up the app.
Download Tumblr: iOS
2. Look through your feed to find an image you want to save. Then simply tap and hold on the image you like to reveal saving options.
With the app open, you can easily save any images you find by tapping and holding your finger over the image to reveal a menu with options to save.
3. Finally, tap the Save Image icon to download the GIF to your device’s camera roll.
The last thing you need to do is to select Save Image. The GIF will then be stored on your device.
Those three simple steps are all it takes to save Tumblr GIFs.
That’s everything you need to know to save GIFs to your iPhone or iPad from Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and pretty much any website you might be browsing on your iOS device. Now that you’ve saved your favorites to your device, you can share them with your friends and family, or keep them for your own enjoyment! If you’d like, you can even post GIFs on Instagram.