How to insert an animated image into an email body only for Outlook 2013? [closed]

Question

I am trying to insert a .gif into the body of an email, and have it display in Outlook.

I have tried by going Insert → Pictures, but it converts the .gif into a static image form even though the original is animated.

What can I do to get an animated image in Outlook?

Answer 1

Microsoft considers .gif images to be active content, and for security reasons, Outlook does not allow active content to run in messages.

All Outlook versions after 2007

There is no support for animated gif-files when composing or reading an email. If you want to see the animation you’ll need to open the message in a browser.

To do this, double click the message to open it in its own window. Then choose (Other) Actions-> View in Browser. This will open the message in Internet Explorer.

Note: Even though the gif-file will not animate while composing, when the recipient receives your message in a mail client that does support gif-animation, the gif-animation will still work.

Source

So what this is saying is that Outlook will show the first frame of a .gif image. If you add a .gif using compose email in Outlook, and send the email to a device that can display .gif, say an iPhone, the .gif will animate on there.

In Outlook versions before 2007 they have limited support. This is because in 2007 Microsoft moved from using Internet Explorer (which can display .gif) to render the emails, to Microsoft Word (which blocks .gif).

Because of this change, Outlook does not support a lot of the latest HTML5 standards, including the HTML5 animations. So there is currently no way for Outlook (desktop at least) to show any type of animation.

Answer 2

HTML messages are rendered by Word, not IE in Outlook. Word does not support animated GIFs.

Update (March 2019): animated GIFs are now supported by Outlook. See https://www.msoutlook.info/question/animated-gif-support

Answer 3

The problem boils down to how Outlook renders GIFs.

Since 2007, Outlook began to use Microsoft Word as it’s text editor. Word cannot read HTML elements in your emails meaning that all GIFs you include as you write an email, or GIFs received in an email from someone else, will display as a still image of the first frame of that GIF.

In 2013, Outlook moved to a new text editor similar to word. Unfortunately the same HTML issues existed within this editor, so there was no change for users.

Source

Microsoft Office FAQ

As a work-around, it is possible to conditional logic to show an animated gif to non-outlook users, and a specific static image for outlook users:

<!--[if !mso]><!-->
<img class="outlookcomIMG" src="ANIMATED.gif">
<!--<![endif]-->

<!--[if gte mso 9]>
<img src="STATIC.jpg">
<![endif]-->

The first block of code will show an animated gif, while the second will show a static image in Outlook. Although not ideal, it does allow you to create call to actions that look effective in both environments.

Solution from Email on acid