How to Disable Animated .GIFs in Chrome or Edge

May 23, 2022 / By

This very brief tutorial will guide you through the steps required to disable (most) animated GIFs in the Google Chrome web browser.

Background

There are a number of extensions that ‘disable’ animated GIFs in Chrome. In this guide I will explain how to install, setup and use the Animation Policy extension – it’s small, easy to setup and best of all it works. It’s also very much worth mentioning that this extension also works in Microsoft Edge, since it’s based on Chrome too.

Disabling Animated GIFs in Chrome

  1. Head over to the Animation Policy extension page and click the Add to Chrome button.

    2. an arrow pointing to an Add to Chrome button on the Animation Policy Chrome extension page

  2. Click the Add extension button when prompted.

    3. an arrow pointing to a button titled Add extension

  3. To access the settings, click the Extensions icon in your Chrome Toolbar (see screenshot below) and then click the Animation Policy icon (the one that looks like a lightening bolt).

    4. an arrow pointing at the Chrome Extensions button and another arrow pointing at the Animated Policy extension icon

  4. Finally, select either Allow animated images, but only once or Disable all image animation based on your specific needs.

    5. options to disable animated gifs in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge

  5. Test it out over at Giphy. If you’re testing it out on a page you currently have open, you’ll need to refresh that page in order for the extension to load and disable any animated GIFs on that page.
  6. That’s it! If you ever need to access the settings again just repeat steps #3-4.

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5 thoughts on “How to Disable Animated .GIFs in Chrome or Edge”

  1. Ross McKillop

    @facebook-806435173:disqus: The source code for ‘stop gif animations’ is openly available on its home page @ http://userscripts.org/scripts/review/80588. The source code for Paused! is openly available at: https://github.com/hrj/Pause–Pause–Pause-/tree/master/src.

    I think you might be confusing these programs with something else you’ve installed recently. I would never recommend software that installed Spyware or Toolbars or anything even remotely ‘shady’.

  2. James Trunnell

    stop gif animations on escape is loaded with spyware and attempts to install babylon search bar. This is a TERRIBLE article. avoid either of these methods at all costs

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