5 Free GIF Screen Recorders for Windows (with Tutorials)

Quick Navigation

1. ScreenToGif

2. GifCam

3. Gif Screen Recorder

4. LICEcap

5. Flixier

When you want to quickly share tutorial steps, gaming skills, or software bugs, recording a GIF is often more convenient than recording a video. You may have heard of a GIF recorder called Giphy Capture, but this is exclusive to Mac. So, what options are available for Windows users? Don't worry, I’ll introduce five excellent, free GIF screen recorders and also explain how to use them to record GIFs directly on your Windows computer. Let's dive in!

1. ScreenToGif

ScreenToGif is a powerful program that allows you to record your entire computer screen, a selected area, or your webcam as a GIF file. After recording, you can enhance your GIF by removing unwanted frames, and adding text, logos, and free images to designated frames. In addition, you can set the loop count and transparency of the GIF. Despite its many features, it's lightweight and very easy to use.

Features:

Record screen, webcam and sketchboard
Save recordings to GIF (or MP4 with the FFmpeg plugin installed)
Offer an integrated editor

Steps to Record Screen to GIF with ScreenToGif:

Step 1: Download ScreenToGif from https://www.screentogif.com/downloads.

Step 2: Start the program and click Recorder in the startup interface.

Step 3: Choose the area you want to record and hit the Record button to start.

Step 4: When you finish the recording, click Stop. The editing window will open automatically.

Step 5: Edit the frames as needed. Then go to File > Save as, and export the recording as a GIF file.

2. GifCam

GIFCam is another great GIF creation application for Windows. It enables you to record on-screen actions and convert them into animated GIFs directly. You can also use it to generate GIFs from image sequences. With its built-in GIF editor, you can adjust hue, brightness and saturation, set the playback speed of your GIF, play GIFs in reverse, add stickers to your GIFs, and more.

Features:

Make GIFs from images and videos
Record screen to GIF or AVI video
Offer various GIF editing tools

Steps to Record Screen to GIF with GifCam:

Step 1: Download GifCam from https://blog.bahraniapps.com/gifcam/.

Step 2: Open the app. Resize and move the window to record the needed area on your screen.

Step 3: Click the ▼ icon next to the Rec button. Here you can set frame rate, decide whether to capture Full Screen or Capture Cursor, and do other Customizations.

Step 4: When you’re ready, click Rec to start recording. Click Stop to finish the recording.

Step 5: Click Edit. You’ll see the recorded file displayed frame by frame. Right-click on the frame to bring up all editing options and edit the frame as needed.

Step 6: Click Save to export the GIF file (You can click the ▼ button next to Save and select Preview before exporting).

3. Gif Screen Recorder

As the name suggests, Gif Screen Recorder enables you to record your screen directly in GIF format. It allows you to flexibly select the recording area, thus quickly capturing on-screen actions and saving them as GIF files. This handy tool is often downloaded alongside another program called Gif Animator Editor. So if you want to both record GIFs quickly and perform subsequent editing, this combo is well worth trying.

Features:

Record to GIF handily
Create high-quality and small-size GIFs
Offer recording presets
Able to pause and restart recording

Steps to Record Screen to GIF with Gif Screen Recorder:

Step 1: Download Gif Screen Recorder from https://www.gifrecorder.com/download.htm.

Step 2: Start it and a red rectangle will appear in the center of the screen.

Step 3: Drag the borders to set the recording area. You can view the size of the recording area above the red rectangle. Alternatively, you can choose a preset size from the combo box.

Step 4: Next, click the top left Start button to begin recording.

Step 5: Hit the red button to end the recording.

4. LICEcap

LICEcap is a simple animated screen capture tool. This free software is able to record the desktop area and save the frames directly as GIF. You also have the option of saving the recording in its native lossless LCF format and then converting it to a GIF or other video format. Whichever you choose, the output quality is great. It also allows you to move the capture frame while recording, pausing or restarting recording.

Features:

Record directly to GIF or LCF file
Adjustable recording frame rate
Record mouse movement
Display elapsed time of recording

Steps to Record Screen to GIF with LICEcap:

Step 1: Download LICEcap from https://www.cockos.com/licecap/.

Step 2: Open LICEcap. A recorder window will pop up. Drag to change the screen dimension and place it over the area you want to record for making a GIF.

Step 3: Set a Max FPS. Note that the higher the number, the larger the output file size.

Step 4: Click the Record button.

Step 5: Set a File name, output folder, and choose GIF files(*.gif) from the Save as type drop-down. Check other options like elapsed time, mouse button press, etc., if needed.

Step 6. When everything is configured, click the save button and it will begin recording after a 3s countdown.

5. Flixier

Don’t want to go through the hassle of software installation? Then you can try this online GIF recorder: Flixier. This web-based GIF screen recorder allows you to record and edit GIFs directly in your browser. Keep in mind that the free version of Flixier includes watermarks on your GIFs, so you’ll need to subscribe to remove them.

Features:

Web-based
Built-in annotations
Control frame rate
Offer editing tools

Steps to Record Screen to GIF with Flixier:

Step 1: Visit https://flixier.com/tools/online-screen-recorder/capture-screen-to-gif and click Choose Video.

Step 2: On the left pane, click Record to pick a layout.

Step 3: Select what to record: Chrome Tab, Window, or Entire Screen. Click Share to confirm your selection. Don’t forget to allow the recording permission.

Step 4: Click the red icon to start and end the recording.

Step 5: Click the green save button followed by Import All.

Step 6: Drag the imported recording into the timeline and edit it to your liking.

Step 7: Click Export on the right pane and choose to save the file as GIF.

Step 8: Select a desired GIF Frame Rate and click Export. Keep in mind that the GIF duration cannot exceed 30s.

Summary

These are the five GIF recorders for Windows I wanted to share. They are all easy to use. Simply follow the steps outlined above, and you’ll have no trouble recording GIFs on your Windows PC. Why not pick your favorite one and start recording?