GIF in Email: How to Add One in Klaviyo, Gmail and Outlook

Animated GIFs are the one bit of motion you can reliably put inside an email. Video does not play in most inboxes, CSS animation support is patchy, but a GIF plays almost everywhere. Almost. The gap between “almost everywhere” and “everywhere” is where most brands get caught out, usually in desktop Outlook, usually on the one campaign that mattered.

This guide covers how to add a GIF in Klaviyo, Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail, what file size to aim for, why a GIF sometimes will not move, and when a GIF genuinely earns its place in an ecommerce email.

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Can you put a GIF in an email?

Yes. Animated GIFs play in Gmail, Apple Mail, iOS Mail, Outlook.com, Outlook for Mac, Yahoo and most Android mail apps. Desktop Outlook for Windows is the exception: older versions show only the first frame, and newer builds are inconsistent. So design every GIF so its first frame works as a static image, and keep the file small.

Here is how the main inboxes behave, based on Caniemail’s support data and Klaviyo’s own Outlook documentation (as of September 2026):

Inbox	Animated GIF support	What to watch
Gmail (web, iOS, Android)	Plays	Images load through Google’s proxy; large files load slowly on mobile
Apple Mail and iOS Mail	Plays	Very large GIFs can be slow on mobile data
Outlook.com and Outlook for Mac	Plays	Test the new Outlook for Windows separately
Outlook for Windows (desktop, 2007–2019 era)	First frame only	Your first frame is the whole email for these readers
Outlook with Microsoft 365 on Windows	Varies by build	Some builds loop a few times, then show a play button
Yahoo, AOL, most Android clients	Plays	None of note

Klaviyo’s help centre puts it bluntly: Outlook “will select the first frame of your GIF and display it as a static image.” If a meaningful share of your list opens on Windows desktop (common for B2B and wholesale lists, less so for DTC), treat the first frame as the design and the animation as a bonus.

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How to add a GIF in Klaviyo

In Klaviyo, a GIF is just an image. There is no separate GIF block.

1. Open the email in the drag-and-drop editor and drag an Image block into the section where the GIF should sit.
2. Upload the GIF from your computer, or pick it from your image library. Klaviyo accepts JPEG, PNG and GIF files.
3. Set the display width. For a full-width GIF in a standard 600px template, leave it at full width. For a GIF inside a column, set it to the column width.
4. Add alt text that describes the message, not the animation (“20% off all protein powders this weekend”, not “animated banner”).
5. Link it to the landing page. People tap moving things, so the GIF should go somewhere useful.
6. Preview and send a test to real Gmail, Apple Mail and Outlook inboxes (or use Klaviyo’s inbox testing) before scheduling.

Klaviyo’s GIF and image limits (as of September 2026)

These come from Klaviyo’s help centre articles on email images and on embedding video:

• Animated GIFs: work in emails “as long as they are less than 5 MB in size.”
• Maximum image upload: 10MB for any image.
• Recommended image size: 1MB or smaller, because larger images load slowly.
• Compression: Klaviyo has an automatic image compression tool, but it is not supported for GIFs. Whatever you upload is what your subscribers download.
• WebP: static WebP files are converted to PNG. Animated WebP is not, so download the actual .gif from wherever you sourced it.

The 5MB ceiling is a hard limit, not a target. A 4MB GIF will send, and it will also sit half-loaded on a phone on a weak connection while your subscriber scrolls past. We aim for a few hundred kilobytes on hero GIFs and treat anything near 1MB as a problem to fix.

Countdown timers are GIFs too

Klaviyo has no native countdown timer. Its help centre recommends a third-party tool such as MailTimers, which generates a live GIF that you paste into an HTML block. Two caveats from Klaviyo’s own documentation: Outlook 2007, 2010 and 2013 show only the first frame, and Apple Mail can show the wrong time because it preloads messages before they are opened. Make sure the first frame still states the deadline in words (“Ends midnight Sunday”).

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How to insert a GIF in Gmail

For one-to-one emails from Gmail (not marketing sends):

1. Click Compose.
2. Click the Insert photo icon in the bottom toolbar.
3. Choose Upload to use a saved GIF, or Web address (URL) to paste a direct link to a .gif file.
4. Select Inline (not As attachment), then click Insert.

The GIF plays in the body of the message. In the Gmail mobile apps, added images generally go in as attachments rather than inline, so if the GIF needs to sit in the body, write the email on desktop.

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How to add a GIF in Outlook

In Outlook on desktop, go to Insert > Pictures > This Device, pick your GIF and click Insert. Microsoft’s support page also notes that Microsoft 365 subscribers can insert animated GIFs through Online Pictures, or through a GIF add-in such as GIPHY.

The catch is on the receiving end: whether the GIF animates depends on the recipient’s inbox, not yours. A GIF you send from Outlook will play for a Gmail reader and may freeze for a colleague on an older Outlook build.

How to add a GIF in Apple Mail

In Apple Mail on Mac, drag the GIF file straight into the body of the message. On iPhone, tap in the body, tap the photo icon above the keyboard and choose the GIF from your library. Apple Mail and iOS Mail both play animated GIFs.

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Why is my GIF not moving?

When a GIF looks frozen, it is almost always one of these:

• The reader is on desktop Outlook for Windows. It shows the first frame. Nothing is broken; that is the client.
• It went in as an attachment. In Gmail and on mobile, check you chose Inline.
• It is not really a GIF. GIPHY, Tenor and many social tools serve MP4 or animated WebP files by default. Email clients will not animate those. Download the .gif version.
• Images are blocked. Some corporate inboxes and privacy settings do not load images until the reader allows them. They see your alt text instead.
• The file is too heavy. On slow connections, a huge GIF can sit on its first frame while it downloads.
• Your tool flattened it. Some design exports and image optimisers save only the first frame. Check the file plays in a browser before uploading.

“Why isn’t my GIF working in Gmail?” usually comes down to the second or third point. Gmail itself plays GIFs on web, iOS and Android.

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GIF file size: how big is too big?

The limits above tell you what will upload. These are the targets that keep the email fast:

GIF use	Display width	Target file size
Full-width hero	600px	Under 500KB, ideally 200–400KB
Product or feature demo	280–600px	Under 300KB
Small accent (button pulse, icon)	Under 150px	Under 50KB
Countdown timer	Set by the tool	Handled by the tool

How to get there without making it look like 2004:

• Export at display size. Retina 2x exports work well for static JPEGs and PNGs, but doubling a GIF’s dimensions roughly quadruples its weight. For GIFs, 1x or 1.5x is usually the better trade.
• Cut frames. Most product GIFs need 8–20 frames, not 60. Hold the key frame longer instead of adding more.
• Shrink the palette. GIFs support up to 256 colours. Photographic GIFs often look fine at 64–128.
• Apply lossy compression. Photoshop’s legacy Save for Web and free tools such as Ezgif both offer it, and a moderate setting often cuts file size substantially with little visible loss.
• Crop the motion. If only the product moves, animate a small area and use a static image around it.

Image files are hosted outside the email, so a GIF does not count towards Gmail’s clipping limit. Klaviyo’s help centre puts that limit at roughly 102KB of email code on desktop. Heavy code clips; heavy images just load slowly.

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Design for the first frame

Because desktop Outlook freezes on frame one, and because every reader sees frame one first while the rest loads, frame one has to do the whole job on its own:

• The offer or headline is visible and readable.
• The product is in frame and recognisable.
• There is a clear reason to click, even if the CTA button sits below the GIF as live text (which it should).

A common mistake is a “reveal” GIF that opens on a blank or teaser frame. It looks clever in the design review and shows an empty box to every Outlook reader.

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How to make a GIF for email

• From a video: trim a 2–4 second clip and convert it with Ezgif or Photoshop’s timeline. Product in motion (a pour, a fabric moving, a lid twisting) converts cleanly.
• From a design file: Figma (with an export plugin), Canva and Photoshop can all export frame animations as GIFs. Canva is the fastest route for a simple text or colourway cycle.
• From stock or GIPHY: fine for a personal note, risky for a brand campaign. Reaction GIFs often feature film, TV or celebrity footage you have no commercial licence for. Make your own for marketing sends.

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Where GIFs earn their place in ecommerce email

GIFs lift attention. They do not fix a weak offer. They work best when motion shows something a still photo cannot:

• Product in use. Texture, fit, pour, mix, before-and-after of the product (a jar opening, a fold-flat design collapsing).
• Colourways and variants. Cycle four colours in one hero instead of stacking four images.
• How-to steps. A three-step routine, a set-up sequence, a size guide in motion.
• Urgency. Countdown timers for genuine deadlines, such as the last day of a BFCM sale.
• Directing the eye. A subtle arrow or pulse towards the CTA. Subtle is the operative word.

A note for supplement and health brands: an animated “before and after” of a body or skin result carries the same claim risk as a static one, and arguably more, because motion implies a transformation. Keep animations about the product and the routine, not the outcome.

Where GIFs usually do not earn their place: flows that should feel personal. A founder’s welcome note or a post-purchase check-in reads as more human in a plain-text style, and an animated banner undercuts that.

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GIFs, dark mode and accessibility

• Transparency looks rough in dark mode. GIF transparency is on-or-off per pixel, so anti-aliased edges leave a light halo on dark backgrounds. Klaviyo’s dark mode guidance recommends image files that include a background colour rather than a transparent one. For GIFs, that is the only reliable option.
• Do not flash. WCAG 2.2 advises against content that flashes more than three times in any one second, because it can trigger seizures. Slow fades and simple loops are fine; strobing sale banners are not.
• Alt text is mandatory. Outlook users with images off, screen reader users and anyone on a slow connection see the alt text first.
• Never make the GIF the whole email. Image-only emails are harder to read, cannot adapt to dark mode, and Klaviyo notes they can look suspicious to inbox providers. Put the headline, body copy and CTA in live text around the GIF. Our font guide covers making that live text look on-brand.

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GIF vs video in email

Embedded video does not play in most inboxes. Klaviyo’s own guidance is to use a GIF when the clip is short and has no sound. Otherwise, use a still thumbnail with a play-button overlay that links to the video on your site or YouTube. A common ecommerce pattern is both: a 3-second GIF preview in the email that links to the full video on the product page.

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Email signature GIFs

For personal and sales email signatures, the same rules apply at a smaller scale: keep the GIF under about 100KB, no wider than your signature (typically 300–600px), and make sure the first frame shows your logo or message clearly, since many recipients are on Outlook. Host the GIF at a public URL rather than attaching it, or it will show up as an attachment on every email you send.

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The short version

GIFs work in almost every inbox and are one of the cheapest ways to add attention to a campaign. Keep them small (well under Klaviyo’s 5MB ceiling), build the first frame as a complete static design for Outlook, keep text and CTAs live around them, and use motion only where it shows something a photo cannot. Our email dimensions cheat sheet has the widths and heights to design to.

If your emails look great in the design file and inconsistent in the inbox, that is a rendering problem we fix all the time. Our email design and copywriting service builds Klaviyo templates that hold up in Outlook, Gmail and dark mode, or start with a free Klaviyo audit and we will tell you what is costing you clicks.