Imgur was built in 2009 by a college student who was tired of watching image hosts collapse whenever something got popular on Reddit. He posted it there as a gift to the community, it was immediately overwhelmed with traffic, and within a few years it had become the default place the internet put its pictures.
It then did something its creator had not planned: it grew a community of its own. People began browsing Imgur directly rather than arriving from elsewhere, and a distinct culture developed around its front page, entirely separate from the site it had been built to serve.
Technically its most useful contribution was GIFV, introduced in 2014. It looked and behaved exactly like a GIF but was an MP4 underneath, which cut file sizes by an order of magnitude at a moment when animated content was becoming unmanageably heavy. That is why an Imgur animation downloads as video.
Why people save from Imgur
Links break. Imgur has changed its terms and cleared out old anonymous uploads more than once, and a decade of forum threads across the internet now point at images that no longer exist. Anything you actually want is worth taking.
It is also a sharing host rather than an archive. People upload things to post somewhere else, and neither the uploader nor the site treats those files as permanent records.
And a file is simply more portable. A clip you want to send on, put in a presentation or keep for reference works everywhere, whereas an Imgur link only works where the embed is supported.
Saving an Imgur clip
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1
Copy the Imgur address
Take the imgur.com address from your browser. A direct i.imgur.com file address works too, as does a link to a single item inside an album — open the item itself rather than the album page.
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2
Post the address into the box above
Paste it into the field at the top of this page, which starts reading it at once.
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3
Take what is stored on Imgur
Imgur keeps animations as video, so a GIFV will be listed as an MP4 with its size. That is the actual file rather than a conversion.
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4
Put it away safely
Tap the row when it turns blue. Downloads on Android, the Files app on an iPhone.
GIFV, and what Imgur actually stores
Imgur made a deliberate decision years ago to stop serving true GIFs wherever possible, and the naming has confused people ever since.
| What it is called | What it really is | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GIFV | An MP4 video | Roughly a tenth the size of the same GIF |
| Uploaded GIF | Converted to video on upload | Happens automatically |
| Uploaded MP4 | Stays as video | No conversion needed |
| Still image | No video to fetch | Most of Imgur is photographs |
| Album | A collection | Open individual items to save them |
So a download arriving as MP4 is not a substitution — it is the file Imgur actually holds. If you genuinely need a true .gif, that format frequently no longer exists on their side at all.
Imgur download questions
What is a GIFV?
Imgur's name for an MP4 presented like a GIF. It behaves identically and is roughly a tenth of the size, which is why they moved to it.
Can I get a true .gif instead?
Often not. Imgur converts animations to video on upload, so the original format frequently no longer exists on their servers.
Do direct i.imgur.com addresses work on Imgur?
Yes, along with ordinary imgur.com post links.
Can I save a Imgur whole album?
No. Each item needs its own address, so open the individual image or clip first.
Why do so many old Imgur links fail on Imgur?
The site has cleared out old anonymous uploads and changed its terms more than once. A great many links in older forum threads are dead.
Does it work with private or hidden posts?
If the link opens without signing in, yes. Anything requiring an account does not.
Where does the Imgur file save?
Downloads on Android, the Files app on an iPhone.
Will the Imgur uploader be notified?
No. Nothing is reported and no account is used here.
Is there a download cap on Imgur?
No limit and no queue.
Is saving from Imgur acceptable on Imgur?
The site exists so people can share things, so keeping a copy of something shared with you is the intended use. A great deal of what is there was originally made by somebody else, which is worth remembering before republishing it.