ICO – Windows Icon
ICO is the Windows icon format, and browsers also use it for favicons. A single .ico file can hold several sizes of the same icon, from 16x16 up to 256x256, so the right one is shown wherever it is needed.
More ICO conversionsDrop your ICO files here
or click to choose ICO files · up to 95MB each
How to convert ICO to GIF
- Choose your files. Click Select File or drag your ICO files into the upload box. You can add many at once.
- Pick the settings. GIF is already selected as the output format. Adjust Quality and Max dimension if you want smaller files.
- Download. Each file appears in the list when it is ready. Download them one by one, or all together with Download all.
GIF – Graphics Interchange Format
GIF dates from 1987 and is best known for short looping animations. Each frame is limited to 256 colours and transparency is on or off only, so photographs often look banded. It is still handy for simple graphics and animations that need to work everywhere.
More GIF conversionsICO vs GIF
| Feature | ICO | GIF |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Windows Icon | Graphics Interchange Format |
| Compression | PNG or BMP images inside | Lossless, 256 colours |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes |
| Animation | No | Yes |
| Introduced | 1985 | 1987 |
| Developed by | Microsoft | CompuServe |
| Best for | Favicons and Windows icons | Short animations and simple graphics |
Converting ICO to GIF
- GIF is limited to 256 colours per frame, so smooth gradients and photographs can look banded.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert ICO to GIF?
Click Select File or drop your ICO file onto the upload box. Pick the quality and maximum size, and the converted GIF appears in the list below with a download button. You can add many files at once and download them together as a ZIP.
Is it really free?
Yes. There is no sign-up and no watermark. To keep the service available for everyone there is a 95MB limit per file and a cap on how many files one connection can process in a short period.
Are my files stored?
Your upload is used only to make the converted file. Images are processed in memory; other files are written to a private temporary folder that is deleted as soon as the conversion finishes. Nothing is kept after the result has been sent back.
Will quality drop?
For images, a little, by design: the image is re-encoded at the Quality you choose (default 75%). Audio and video are re-encoded with high-quality settings; documents keep their text and layout as far as the target format allows. Converting never restores detail that is already missing from the original.
How this works: your file is uploaded over HTTPS and converted on this server with open-source engines (libvips for images, FFmpeg for audio and video, LibreOffice and Pandoc for documents, Calibre for ebooks, Ghostscript and Inkscape for PDF and vector files). Images are processed in memory; other files use a private temporary folder that is deleted as soon as the conversion finishes.