BMP to GIF Converter

BMP to GIF, small and shareable. Nothing ever uploads.

Drop BMP files below — get a still GIF per image, ready for Discord, forums and email. Converted entirely on your device.

  • Your file data never leaves the device
  • Still GIF per file
  • Batch up to 20 files
  • Works offline after load

Convert BMP to GIF

Add your BMP files

Drag & drop BMP files here

or browse your files · you can also paste from clipboard (Ctrl+V)

Your BMP is decoded by pure JavaScript built into the page — no decoder download, no waiting.

    Privacy you can verify, not just trust

    Most online BMP converters upload your images to their servers first — and some keep a download link live for days. This one can't: your browser decodes BMP with pure JavaScript built into the page and the GIF encoder runs entirely in your browser. Your file data never leaves the device — the only third-party requests are the site's own analytics, which count page views — and it uploads nothing, ever. There is no decoder to download and no file fetched after load for the conversion itself. Don't take our word for it:

    External requests while you use this page: 0 (zero — as it should be)
    1. Press F12 to open developer tools, then the Network tab.
    2. Convert any BMP above. Watch: apart from the site's analytics, nothing new is requested — no uploads, and no file data ever leaves your device.
    3. Extra credit: disconnect your internet after this page loads — conversion still works.

    How to convert BMP to GIF without uploading it

    Every "free" online BMP converter you've used uploads your images to a company server, converts them there, and — in several documented cases — keeps a copy or a live download link for days. For personal screenshots, logos, and anything you wouldn't post publicly, that's an unnecessary risk. The safer approach is to convert the file where it already is: on your own device.

    This tool does exactly that. When you drop a BMP here, your browser:

    1. Decodes the BMP with pure JavaScript — 1, 4 and 8-bit paletted BMPs, 16-bit 555/565, and 24/32-bit, top-down or bottom-up — built into the page, so there is no decoder file to download and no waiting for a library to load.
    2. Flattens transparency onto the background colour you pick, because GIF transparency is all-or-nothing — a semi-transparent pixel becomes the background colour.
    3. Quantises the pixels to at most 256 colours and re-encodes them as a GIF with a JavaScript GIF encoder — one still GIF per file. Your original file is never modified.

    Why does the GIF look worse than the BMP?

    GIF was designed in 1987 for simple graphics, and it stores at most 256 colours per frame. A 24-bit BMP contains millions of shades, so the converter has to pick the 256 that matter most and dither the rest — speckling pixels to fake the missing shades. Smooth skies, skin, and gradients suffer most; flat graphics, logos, and text survive well. That is a limit of the format, not a defect in the conversion. If the image has to look its best, keep it as a PNG: PNG keeps every pixel exactly. If it has to be smaller, use our BMP to JPG converter instead.

    Why won't my BMP open on Discord, Slack or a forum?

    BMP is the format Windows Paint and many scanners save by default — but email clients, upload forms, Discord, Slack and most websites either refuse BMP or cap it, so a BMP screenshot that is 15 MB on disk is unshareable as-is. GIF opens everywhere and plays inline — which is why it is the shareable format for an image that has to be seen, not just stored. If the destination has a size limit, pick a destination preset and the converter will aim for it.

    Honest limitations

    Only 256 colours

    Photos lose detail and smooth gradients band or dither. Dithering softens the banding but adds a speckled texture. For faithful photos, keep the PNG or convert to JPG instead.

    GIFs are big for photos

    Expect a photo GIF to be much larger than a JPG or PNG of the same image, and to lose colour detail. There is no quality slider that makes a GIF small — only fewer colours, a smaller width, or no dithering. Flat graphics usually shrink a lot.

    BMP is a still format

    A BMP holds exactly one picture — no frames, no timing — so every output is one still GIF. Nothing is animated, and nothing is silently dropped.

    Transparency is flattened

    GIF transparency is all-or-nothing: a pixel is either fully opaque or fully gone. Partial transparency is flattened onto the background colour you pick, so choose one that matches where the GIF will be shown.

    Metadata is stripped

    BMP carries no EXIF at all, so there is nothing to keep. DPI is not preserved — the resize step drops it, so the GIF carries no DPI value even when the BMP had one.

    RLE-compressed BMPs are refused

    A few old apps saved BMPs with RLE8 or RLE4 compression. This tool refuses them with a clear message; re-save uncompressed (24-bit BMP in Paint) and try again.

    Frequently asked questions

    How can I convert BMP to GIF without uploading it anywhere?

    This converter runs entirely in your browser: it decodes your BMP with a pure JavaScript decoder built into the page and re-encodes it as a GIF with a JavaScript GIF encoder. Your file data never leaves your device — the only third-party requests are the site's own analytics, which load at page open and never see your files. Verify it in the Network tab while it works.

    Why is my BMP file so large?

    BMP is an uncompressed format — every pixel is stored in full, so a BMP is typically much larger than the same image as GIF, PNG or JPG. Converting to GIF shrinks flat graphics, logos and screenshots dramatically, because GIF packs the pixels with LZW compression into a 256-colour palette. Photos are the exception: a photo GIF is still usually much smaller than the BMP, but it is larger than a JPG or PNG of the same photo and it loses colour detail, because GIF's old compression handles photographic detail poorly — convert photos to JPG instead.

    Does converting BMP to GIF lose quality?

    Yes, for photos and gradients: GIF is capped at 256 colours, so a 24-bit BMP with millions of shades has to be squeezed into a small palette. Smooth areas such as skies and skin can band or look speckled, and fine detail is lost. That is a limit of the GIF format itself, not of this tool. Turning dithering on softens the banding by speckling pixels to fake the missing shades. Flat graphics, logos, screenshots and diagrams survive well — they have few colours to begin with. If the image has to look its best, keep it as a PNG or convert it to JPG instead.

    What happens to transparency when I convert BMP to GIF?

    It is flattened onto the background colour you pick. GIF transparency is all-or-nothing: a pixel is either fully opaque or fully gone, so any partial transparency in a 32-bit BMP becomes the background colour. Choose white for chat apps or black for dark backgrounds. A PNG of the same image would keep the transparency properly, which is one reason to choose PNG when transparency matters.

    Will my BMP animate as a GIF?

    No. BMP is a still-image format — a BMP file holds exactly one picture, with no frames and no timing information, so there is nothing to animate. Every output of this tool is one still GIF per file. If you want a moving GIF, convert several BMPs here and combine the GIFs elsewhere, or use a tool that stitches multiple still images into one animated GIF.

    What BMP files can this converter not open?

    RLE-compressed BMPs (RLE8 and RLE4) are not supported — most BMPs are uncompressed, but a few old apps saved them compressed, and this tool tells you plainly instead of failing silently. Files that are only named .bmp but are really PNG, JPG or GIF are also refused with a clear message. Corrupt, empty and oversized files are refused the same way.

    Can I make the GIF fit under an upload limit?

    Yes — pick a destination preset (Discord emoji or sticker aims for under 256 KB, forum avatar under 500 KB, Slack or email under 1 MB) and the converter retries with smaller width, fewer palette colours and no dithering until it fits, or reports the smallest size it could reach. A target is an aim, never a guarantee — the tool reports the size it actually reached on each file.

    Is there a file size or daily limit?

    No daily limit, no account. A 25 MB cap per file and 20 files per batch apply, because browsers cannot safely hold larger images in memory.