PowerPoint animation stops GIF from playing

When you add an animated GIF to a PowerPoint slide and then apply a PowerPoint animation to it (like "fade"), it often stops the GIF from animating as expected. This is a known issue where applying entrance animations to GIFs can cause them to display only the first frame.

Here are a few solutions you can try:

Solution 1: Reorder the Animations

Ensure that the GIF's own animation plays after the PowerPoint animation.

  1. Insert the animated GIF.
  2. Apply the "fade" animation to the GIF.
  3. Open the Animation Panel (found in the Animations tab).
  4. Reorder the animations so that the entrance animation (e.g., fade) occurs before any other animations.

Solution 2: Use a Trigger Animation

Set the GIF animation to start only after the fade animation is complete.

  1. Insert the animated GIF.
  2. Apply the "fade" animation.
  3. In the Animation Panel, right-click on the fade animation and select Start With Previous.
  4. Add a trigger animation to start the GIF after the fade animation completes.

Solution 3: Insert animated icon as a MP4 video

Download the animated icon in an MP4 and insert it as a video file. PowerPoint tends to handle videos better with entrance animations.

  1. Insert the MP4 file into PowerPoint.
  2. Apply the "fade" animation to the video.

Solution 4: Delay the Start of the GIF

Use a slight delay on the GIF animation to allow the fade animation to complete first.

  1. Insert the animated GIF.
  2. Apply the "fade" animation.
  3. In the Animation Panel, right-click on the fade animation and select Start After Previous.
  4. Set a slight delay for the GIF to start animating after the fade.

Step-by-Step Example (Solution 4)

  1. Insert the GIF into your slide.
  2. Select the GIF, go to the Animations tab, and apply the "fade" animation.
  3. Click on the Animation Panel button to open the Animation Panel.
  4. In the Animation Panel, right-click on the fade animation for the GIF and select Start After Previous.
  5. Still in the Animation Pane, click the dropdown arrow next to the fade animation and select Timing.
  6. Set a delay of about 0.5 seconds (you may need to adjust this timing based on your specific animation).
  7. Click OK to apply the changes.

These methods should help ensure that your GIF both appears and animates as intended in your PowerPoint presentation.