Microsoft announced that the Windows screenshot and screencast Snipping Tool utility is getting support for exporting animated GIF recordings.
This new capability is rolling out to Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels, who have updated the app to version 11.2505.21.0.
“In this update, we are adding GIF export for screen recordings – designed to boost your productivity and turn quick captures into shareable moments,” said Dave Grochocki, a Principal Product Manager Lead at Microsoft.
“Please note: GIF export is limited to videos that are 30 seconds or less. If your video is longer than 30 seconds, Snipping Tool will offer to export the first 30 seconds of your video instead.”
To begin recording a new GIF, open the Snipping Tool’s screen recorder by pressing Win + Shift + R or launching the app and switching to screen recording mode. Start recording your screen, and once the preview opens, click the ‘Export GIF’ button at the top of the toolbar.
Next, choose low GIF quality for a smaller size or high quality for a clearer recording, and then copy it directly to your clipboard or save it to your hard drive.
Last month, Microsoft also started testing a new AI-powered ‘perfect screenshot’ tool that helps precisely capture screen content to avoid cropping and a color picker utility that allows picking color codes using HEX, RGB, or HSL values.
“Once activated, perfect screenshot will intelligently resize based on the content in your selection,” Grochocki said at the time. “You can also quickly enable perfect screenshot by holding the Ctrl keyboard shortcut after invoking Snipping Tool while selecting a region of your screen.”
In April, Snipping Tool was also updated to include a Text Extractor feature that copies text to the clipboard without actually having to take a screenshot.
Earlier this year, the company also added a draw & hold feature that helps users draw straight lines and shapes more easily, and a trim capability that helps adjust the start and end times of screen recordings to cut out any unnecessary video snippets from their video.
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