GIF file format description

Many people share .gif files without attaching instructions on how to use it. Yet it isn’t evident for everyone which program a .gif file can be edited, converted or printed with. On this page, we try to provide assistance for handling .gif files.

1 filename extension(s) found in our database.

.gif - CompuServe Bitmap Image

The GIF graphic files are related to XnView. The GIF file is a CompuServe Bitmap Image. Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is a bitmap image format that is widely used on the World Wide Web, both for still images and for animations.

Application:

XnView

Category:

Graphic files

Mime-type:

image/gif

Magic:

0x47, 0x49, 0x46, 0x38 / GIF8

Aliases:

giff

CompuServe Bitmap Image related extensions:

.$s: ZX Spectrum Hobetta Image
.2bp: Pocket PC Bitmap Image
.2d: Amapi Image
.411: Sony Mavica Picture
.4bt: GoDot Image
.73i: TI-73 Bitmap

Naturally, other applications may also use the .gif file extension. Even harmful programs can create .gif files. Be especially cautious with .gif files coming from an unknown source!

Can't open a .gif file?

When you double-click a file to open it, Windows examines the filename extension. If Windows recognizes the filename extension, it opens the file in the program that is associated with that filename extension. When Windows does not recognize a filename extension, you receive the following message:

Windows can't open this file:

example.gif

To open this file, Windows needs to know what program you want to use to open it. Windows can go online to look it up automatically, or you can manually select one from a list of programs that are installed on your computer.

To avoid this error, you need to set the file association correctly.

Open Control Panel > Control Panel Home > Default Programs > Set Associations.
Select a file type in the list and click Change Program.

The .gif file extension is often given incorrectly!

According to the searches on our site, these misspellings were the most common in the past year:

bif, fif, gf, gfi, gi, gib, gic, gid, gig, gir, git, gjf, gkf, glf, gof

Is it possible that the filename extension is misspelled?

Similar file extensions in our database:

.gib: Graph-in-the-Box Chart
.glf: Grantleigh Labels Label Document
.rif: Mikrotik RouterOS Dump
.gic: Bioware Aurora Game Instance Comments
.gjf: Gaussian Input Data
.nif: NetShift Interface Format Data

Operating systems

DataTypes.net currently supports the following operating systems:

Windows XP/Vista, Windows 7/8/10, Windows 11, CentOS, Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, Mac OS X, iOS, Android

If you find the information on this page useful, please feel free to link to this page.

https://datatypes.net/open-gif-files

If you have useful information about the .gif file format, then write to us!