A comparison
GIF or video? What plays in an email.
A GIF plays inside the email in nearly every client. A video plays inside it in Apple Mail and very few others, so in a signature a video is a picture that links to it. Here is what each does, and what to use for which.
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A GIF: moves in the email
A video: a link to where it plays
The short answer
Should an email signature use a GIF or a video?
A GIF for any motion inside the signature: it plays in Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook on the web and on phones, and current Outlook for Windows, and older Outlook shows its first frame. A video for anything with sound or longer than a few seconds, linked from the signature to where it plays.
Side by side
How the two differ.
| GIF | Video | |
|---|---|---|
| Plays inside the email in Gmail | Yes | No |
| Plays inside the email in Apple Mail | Yes | Yes |
| Plays inside the email in Outlook | Current versions, on the web and on phones; older ones show the first frame | Not in Outlook.com or the Outlook apps |
| Sound | No | Yes |
| A length that works | A few seconds, looping | Any, on the page it links to |
| Weight in the email | Up to 250KB, here | A still and a link, when it is linked |
| Colours | 256 per frame | Full colour |
The verdict
Motion in it, video behind it.
Choose a GIF when
- The motion belongs to the signature itself: a photo, a logo, an icon.
- It has to play for readers on Gmail and Outlook, not only Apple Mail.
- It says what it needs to in a few silent seconds.
Choose a video when
- It needs sound, or more than a few seconds.
- You link to it from the signature: a banner or an icon that opens it where it plays.
Questions
Before you choose
Can I put a YouTube video in my signature?
Not one that plays inside the email in Gmail or Outlook. What works everywhere is a link: YouTube is one of the 10 networks, and a banner can open a video, as the one above does.
Does a GIF in a signature play sound?
No. GIF has no sound at all, which suits something everyone you write to sees on every email.
Why are the GIFs in signatures kept small?
Every frame has 256 colours at most, and every frame adds weight. The renderer here keeps each one under 250KB by using fewer frames rather than fewer pixels, so the motion gets coarser before the picture gets softer.
Sources
- Can I email: video elementCan I email. The data was last tested on 16 September 2019. Read 21 October 2026.
- The animated graphic in my e-mail message doesn't workMicrosoft Support, on which versions of Outlook play animated GIFs. Read 21 October 2026.