Animated GIF to ANI converter

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Source image

File size: 489.7KiB, width: 800px, height: 370px, frames: 9, type: gif, length: 00:00:36.00 convert more tools

Notice on cursor dimensions: Windows mouse cursors (.ani files) are recommended to be 32×32 pixels. Standard Windows operating systems may not display animated cursors properly if they use custom or non-square sizes.


Width: px    Height: px (Leave empty to keep original size if auto 32x32 is unchecked)

Converted ANI file:

Online GIF to ANI (animated Windows cursor) converter

Convert animated GIF images to Windows Animated Cursor (.ani) format online for free. ANI files are specialized animated image files used by Microsoft Windows for custom mouse cursors.

What is the ANI format and its relation to ICO?

The ANI format (.ani) is an animated graphics file container based on Microsoft's RIFF (Resource Interchange File Format) structure. It was designed specifically for Windows to store animated mouse cursors (such as busy spinners or custom pointer animations).

While a static Windows icon (ICO file) contains single or multi-resolution static images, an ANI file acts as a container that sequences multiple ICO (or BMP) frames together along with animation frame rate specifications and cursor hotspot coordinates. In essence, an ANI file is an animated sequence of ICO frames.

ANI Format Limitations & Windows Cursor Compatibility

  • Dimensions: Windows natively expects animated mouse cursors to be 32×32 pixels (or 48×48 / 64×64 on modern high-DPI displays). While the ANI format structurally supports larger or non-square dimensions, Windows cursor settings may crop, distort, or refuse to render non-standard cursor sizes.
  • Color Depth & Transparency: Modern ANI files support 32-bit RGBA images with full alpha transparency. However, older Windows versions or legacy software may only render 24-bit color with 1-bit binary transparency masks (fully opaque or fully transparent pixels).
  • Frame Count & File Size: Because each frame inside an ANI container is a full ICO image, converting large GIFs with dozens or hundreds of frames can result in heavy file sizes and high memory consumption when loaded as a system cursor. It is recommended to keep cursor animations short and simple.

Recommended Size: Our converter includes an option to automatically crop and resize your GIF to 32×32 pixels while maintaining center gravity, or you can specify custom arbitrary dimensions or preserve the original image dimensions.

Simply upload your GIF file, choose your size preferences, and click "Convert to ANI!" to download your animated cursor file.

Looking for other conversions? Convert ANI to GIF, ANI to APNG, ANI to WebP, or static GIF to ICO.