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How to record a GIF of your screen on Mac

Showing a bug is faster than describing it. A short GIF plays right in Slack, GitHub and most ticket trackers, with no video player.

0:04 / 0:15

Steps

  1. Press ⇧⌘2 and drag around the part of the screen that moves. Press Space first if you want a whole window.
  2. Press G. The frame turns red and recording starts.
  3. Do the thing you want to show. Recording stops by itself at 15 seconds.
  4. Click Stop and copy GIF, or press Return. The GIF is on your clipboard, ready to paste.

Tips

  • Keep it small: an area around the button or the error is clearer and lighter than the whole screen.
  • Turn on Save a copy of images and GIFs to the Desktop in Settings if you also want the file.
  • Esc discards a recording you don't want.

Without Pluck

macOS records the screen with ⇧⌘5, but it saves a .mov video. To get a GIF you'd export it and convert it with another app or a website, which is several steps for a five-second clip.