Mobile Phones > Android How to Send GIFs on Android Spice up your Android messages with animated GIFS By Molly McLaughlin Molly McLaughlin Twitter Senior Content Strategist New York University Molly K. McLaughlin has been a technology writer since 2004. Her work has appeared on many tech sites across the web including PCMag, Dealnews, Wirecutter and many others. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on June 13, 2021 Reviewed by Jon Fisher Reviewed by Jon Fisher Wichita Technical Institute Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email In This Article Expand Jump to a Section Sending GIFs in Messages Sending GIFs with GIPHY Sending GIFs Saved on Phone If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a GIF worth? Animated GIFs are moving images that play in a short loop, and are a great way to react to an incoming message or on social media. On Android, there are a handful of ways to send GIFs using either the stock keyboard and messaging app, or any number of third-party apps including GIPHY. Instructions apply to Android smartphones and tablets with Android 11, Android 10, Android 9.0 (Pie), or Android 8.0 (Oreo). Sending GIFs in Messages Google Messages, Google's texting app, includes the option to send GIFs. You can also use your keyboard's GIF search, which brings up different results. Instructions for adding GIFs using Gboard are below. Start a new message, and tap the square face symbol in the text field. Tap GIF. Select a GIF and send your message. Sending GIFs with GIPHY If you have an older version of Android or want to try another library of GIFs, try the GIPHY app, which you can download from Google Play. You don’t need a login unless you want to save favorites; otherwise, you can browse and share GIFs freely. Launch the GIPHY app. On the home screen, you’ll see trending and seasonal GIFs. Tap the planet symbol to see other categories including reactions, greetings, occasions, animals, and memes. You also can use the search bar to find GIFs. When you find a GIF you like, tap the image. Choose the app you want to use, write a message, and send it. Once you press Send, symbols for apps including Snapchat, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and others will appear, as well as a download link and a share button. The share button shows other apps on your phone through which you can send GIFs. Sending GIFs Saved on Your Android You also can send GIFs as attachments to your messages and emails if you’ve saved them to your gallery, Google Photos, or any cloud storage system. To add an attachment in Messages: Tap the plus sign (+) in the lower-left corner. Scroll through your images to find the GIF you want to send. On Android 11, scroll down to select Attach file, and choose Photos to browse through images stored in Google Photos. Add a message if desired, and tap Send. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit