How to make a GIF in ChatGPT with Images 2.6, step by step

To make a GIF in ChatGPT, describe the animation in a chat message, or attach a photo and say how it should move. OpenAI added animated GIF output on November 4, 2026, with its Images 2.6 models. This guide covers what OpenAI's documentation confirms, what it doesn't, and how to make a GIF through the API if you build software.

We covered the launch in ChatGPT can now make animated GIFs with the new Images 2.6 model.

What OpenAI has confirmed about GIFs

OpenAI's API changelog says that on November 4, 2026, it launched GPT-Image-2.6 Sunburst and GPT-Image-2.6 Flare. Among other things, they add animated GIF generation. OpenAI's image generation guide describes Sunburst as the model for detailed visual work and Flare as the one for fast iteration.

What we could not confirm: OpenAI's announcement page and its Help Center articles on images returned errors when we tried to open them, so we have not read OpenAI's own step-by-step instructions for GIFs inside the ChatGPT app. The ChatGPT steps below are the general image steps from OpenAI's docs plus the example reported by The Verge.

How to make a GIF in ChatGPT

1. Open ChatGPT on the web, desktop or mobile. Images 2.6 is reported to be rolling out to all ChatGPT users, so it may not appear in your account right away.
2. Describe what you want in the message box. OpenAI's image docs say prompts work best at one to three clear sentences that name the subject, setting, style and constraints.
3. Ask for a GIF in the prompt. The Verge reported that OpenAI's example was "can you make a gif of a cat dancing?"
4. To start from your own picture, attach it to the message and describe the motion you want. The docs confirm that attaching a reference image is how you edit or extend an image. They do not say GIFs work this way, but The Verge reports that photo-based GIFs are supported.
5. Open the result. The Verge reports you can change playback speed, edit individual frames and share the GIF.

If the result is off, change one thing per follow-up message and say what should stay the same, as the docs advise for edits.

What we could not confirm for ChatGPT

• Which plans get GIF creation and whether free accounts have lower limits. OpenAI's image docs say availability and usage limits depend on your plan and workspace settings, without listing plans.
• The maximum length, frame count or file size of a GIF made in the app.
• Whether the Images button or a template has a GIF option. We found no mention of one.

How to make a GIF with the API

This part comes straight from OpenAI's image generation guide. We did not run the code.

1. Use one of the Images 2.6 models. The guide's examples use gpt-image-2.6-flare.
2. Send the request to POST /v1/images/generations with output_format set to gif. The image edit endpoint does not support GIF.
3. Describe the subject, the motion and the loop in the prompt.
4. Optionally set the animation fields, listed below.
5. Decode the b64_json value in the response from base64 and save it with a .gif extension.

The loop length is the frame count times the frame duration. With the defaults, 9 frames at 200 ms loop every 1.8 seconds. Frame count, frame size and the number of animations must fit the model's size limits and the request's total pixel budget. If a request is too big, lower frame_count, the frame dimensions or n.

GIF output does not support streaming, partial images, custom output_compression or prompt_rewriter. Use frame_count and frame_duration_ms only with GIF output.

If ChatGPT doesn't give you a GIF

• Check that you have the newer image model. The rollout is staged, and we could not find an official page that says how to tell which model you have.
• Say "GIF" in the prompt and describe the motion and how it loops.
• For production work with exact frame counts, use the API route above, where you control frames and timing directly.

Check OpenAI's ChatGPT release notes for plan details and limits as they are published. This article reflects what was available on November 5, 2026.