# GIF always shows the first frame when paused

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/gif-always-shows-the-first-frame-when-paused/396691
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [21 februari 2026 om 17:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/gif-always-shows-the-first-frame-when-paused/396691 "2026-02-21T17:24:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Noble\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ad7895/32.png) [@Noble\_Fish](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noble_Fish)
#### Post date: [21 februari 2026 om 17:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/gif-always-shows-the-first-frame-when-paused/396691/1 "2026-02-21T17:24:48Z")

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Take this casually recorded GIF as an example. When I click the pause button in the bottom right corner, instead of pausing at the moment of clicking, it displays the first frame. However, clicking the button again to resume playback continues with its original progress rather than starting from the beginning—which is quite confusing.

![be43d24](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/4/4/a/44a830bbaea080cc7106f373e3af3dad00c396aa.gif)

I think that if it continues playing with its original progress after clicking, it should display the frame at which it was paused;  
Or if it shows the first frame after clicking, then it should reset the entire GIF’s playback progress.

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### Author: ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [23 februari 2026 om 05:34 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/gif-always-shows-the-first-frame-when-paused/396691/2 "2026-02-23T05:34:15Z")

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Sorry this is going to have to be a feature request.

Getting this to pause on the exact right frame is extremely hard, there is a compromise to be made. We would have to render stuff by hand using a canvas, which can impact performance.

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### Author: ![Noble\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ad7895/32.png) [@Noble\_Fish](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noble_Fish)
#### Post date: [23 februari 2026 om 05:46 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/gif-always-shows-the-first-frame-when-paused/396691/3 "2026-02-23T05:46:25Z")

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Eeeeeee… In other words, there is no pause, only play or not play. When not playing, a fixed image is used, and this fixed image is the first frame. So, can I continue to regard it as a bug that when not playing, the first frame is displayed, but playback does not start from frame 1 but from the point where playback stopped?

My main requirement is to eliminate the inconsistency.  
(Well, actually, I’ve now exceeded the editable time limit for my topic.)

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### Author: ![sam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/sam/32/102149_2.png) [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [23 februari 2026 om 07:01 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/gif-always-shows-the-first-frame-when-paused/396691/4 "2026-02-23T07:01:42Z")

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honestly it is all in the “too hard department”, I think that if you want very consistent behavior you would have to go with mp4 which will give you perfect pause.

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### Author: ![Noble\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ad7895/32.png) [@Noble\_Fish](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Noble_Fish)
#### Post date: [23 februari 2026 om 07:05 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/gif-always-shows-the-first-frame-when-paused/396691/5 "2026-02-23T07:05:55Z")

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Indeed, I habitually use GIFs on various websites to the extent that I completely forgot about this point. xD  
After checking, I found that the performance of MP4 is quite good and sufficient for my needs.