Turn GIF files into BMP
Drop in a GIF and get a BMP back. BMP stores a picture as plain rows of pixels with nothing squeezed out, which makes it easy for old Windows software and simple devices to read. Your file never leaves your computer.
Need the other direction? Convert BMP to GIF
How to convert GIF to BMP
- 1 Drop your GIF .gif file onto the page, or click to browse for it.
- 2 Check the options. Nothing is thrown away on the way to BMP, so there is no quality dial to set.
- 3 Convert. The work happens on your own machine, so how long it takes depends on your computer and the file.
- 4 Download the BMP, or add more files and do the whole set in one go.
Why convert GIF to BMP
- Nothing is squeezed, so there is nothing to go wrong and nothing to unpack.
- Simple enough that almost any program can read it.
- Intermediate files in scientific or industrial pipelines.
- GIF: transparency is on or off with nothing in between, so edges look jagged.
GIF compared with BMP
How the two formats differ on the things that decide whether a conversion is worth making.
| Property | GIF | BMP |
|---|---|---|
| File extension | .gif | .bmp |
| Compression | Lossless | Uncompressed |
| Animation | Yes | No |
| Colour depth | 8-bit indexed, 256 colours per frame | 1, 4, 8, 16, 24 or 32 bits per pixel |
| Typical file size | Larger | Largest |
| Browser support | Every browser | All current browsers |
| Introduced | 1987 | 1986 |
| Developed by | CompuServe | Microsoft |
| Standard | Open | Proprietary |
Quality and what changes
Both sides are lossless, so every pixel survives the trip intact and converting back returns the same image. What changes is the size and what the file can carry: BMP stores the data without compression, so expect a much larger file.
- Only the first frame of an animated GIF is kept.
- One BMP limitation to keep in mind: files are enormous, often ten to fifty times a comparable PNG.
Questions about GIF to BMP
What happens to an animated GIF?
BMP holds a single image, so only one frame survives, normally the first. If you need the motion, convert to a format that keeps it such as MP4, WebM or WebP rather than to BMP.
Is my GIF file uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole thing runs inside the browser tab you already have open. Your GIF is read straight from your own disk, converted on your machine and handed back as a BMP. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is stored and there is no account.
Is there a file size limit?
There is no server-side limit because no server sees the file. The real ceiling is your device memory, since the input and the output both have to fit in the tab. A few hundred megabytes is usually fine on a desktop machine and considerably less on a phone.
Can I convert several GIF files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like and they are processed one after another, then offered as separate BMP downloads or as a single ZIP. Speed depends on your own processor rather than on a queue.
Does the converter work offline?
Yes, after the page has loaded once. The engine is cached by the browser, so you can disconnect, reload and keep converting. That falls out of doing the work locally rather than being a separate mode you switch on.