✨ How to Set a GIF as Your Google Chrome Homepage Background Do you want to make your Google Chrome look cooler and more fun? Adding a GIF to your Chrome homepage is a great way to do that! A GIF is like a short, moving picture—and you can use it to make your new tab page more exciting.
Let’s go step-by-step and learn how to do it.
✅ Option 1: Add a Still GIF as Your Background (Easy Way) This method is simple but note: the GIF won’t move, it will show as a still image.
🔹 Step 1: Download a GIF Go to a site like:
Giphy
Tenor
Find a GIF you like, right-click on it, and choose "Save image as…" Make sure the file ends in .gif.
🔹 Step 2: Set it as Your Chrome Background Open a new tab in Chrome.
Click the pencil icon (bottom right corner).
Click “Background” → “Upload from device”.
Choose your GIF file.
✅ Done! Now your Chrome homepage will have your chosen image as a background. But remember, it won’t move—it shows only the first frame of the GIF.
🔁 Option 2: Make Your GIF Move on the New Tab Page (Advanced Way) Want the GIF to actually move? You’ll need to create a small Chrome extension.
📁 Step 1: Make a Folder Create a folder on your desktop, name it something like MyChromeGIF.
📄 Step 2: Add These Files Inside the Folder ➤ manifest.json This tells Chrome what your extension does.
{
"manifest_version": 3,
"name": "GIF New Tab",
"version": "1.0",
"description": "Animated GIF as Chrome homepage",
"chrome_url_overrides": {
"newtab": "index.html"
}
}
➤ index.html This file will show your moving background.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>GIF Tab</title>
<style>
body {
margin: 0;
overflow: hidden;
}
video {
position: fixed;
top: 0; left: 0;
width: 100vw;
height: 100vh;
object-fit: cover;
z-index: -1;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<video autoplay muted loop>
<source src="your-gif.mp4" type="video/mp4">
</video>
</body>
</html>
👉 Replace your-gif.mp4 with the name of your video file.
🎥 Step 3: Convert the GIF to a Video Chrome doesn't support moving GIFs directly, so convert your GIF to a video (MP4 or WebM). You can use a free site like EZGIF to do that.
🧩 Step 4: Load It into Chrome Open Chrome and go to chrome://extensions/
Turn on Developer Mode (top right).
Click “Load unpacked”
Select your folder (MyChromeGIF)
Now, open a new tab and enjoy your animated background! 🎉