The Graphic Interchange Format or GIF is an image file format that supports both the animated as well as the static images. GIFs are nowadays very commonly used especially in our online communications. A large number of GIFs are available out there for conveying your emotions and expressions. You will find these GIFs on almost every social networking and communication platform. GIFs are so extensively used because they seem to be more appealing than the simple static emoticons.

The thing that we need to understand here is that GIF is a special file format and that is exactly why we cannot view GIF files with the help of an ordinary file viewer. In order to view the GIF files, we need dedicated GIF viewers. Therefore, we have gathered for you a list of The 5 Best Free GIF Viewers . Let us learn the specific features of these GIF viewers one by one.

1. GIF Viewer

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GIF Viewer is a free GIF viewer which is compatible with the Windows operating system. It makes you capable of viewing GIF files very conveniently. It has a very user-friendly interface . It has the ability of saving your animations as individual frames . There is also no limitation on the Size of the GIF file that you want to view. The GIF Reader Tool of GIF Viewer allows you to view all the details of your GIF files. The biggest advantage of GIF Viewer is that it occupies a very little size on your disk. Moreover, it also lets you extract images from your GIF files and then save them separately in various formats including PNG , TIFF , JPEG etc.

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GIF Viewer

2. FastStone Image Viewer

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FastStone Image Viewer is not a dedicated GIF viewer rather its a general free image viewer with support for viewing GIF files. It has a very simple and easy to use interface which is perfect for viewing any sort of image files. Apart from viewing the GIF files, it also allows you to perform some basic editing on them. You can add various Effects to your GIF files, Crop , Colorize or Resize your GIF files. Moreover, it also allows you to save the frames of your GIF files as independent files in the formats including BMP , TIFF , JPG, etc.

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FastStone Image Viewer

3. JPEGView

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JPEGView is a free image viewer and editor that provides full support for viewing and editing GIF files in real-time . You can easily adjust the Brightness , Contrast , Saturation, etc of your GIF files. You can even Resize or Rotate your GIF files. It allows you to define customized commands and keyboard shortcuts for editing your image files. The most exciting feature of this software is that you can Print your GIFs directly as images from JPEGView.

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JPEGView

4. Giphy

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Giphy is a free online website solely dedicated for creating and viewing GIF files. You can view GIF files simply by uploading them on Giphy. You will also find a lot of GIFs created by other users on Giphy that you can easily download and use. Once you upload your GIF over there, then it becomes available for the general public and they can conveniently access it. It also provides you with a lot of built-in tools and features with the help of which you can create high-quality GIFs within no time. All you need to have is a good Internet connection and you can make use of this amazing website any time you want.

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Giphy

5. IrfanView

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IrfanView is a free digital photo software with the help of which you can easily view your animated GIFs. This allows you to Play , Pause , Stop or Resume your GIF animations very conveniently. You can also Convert , Crop , Resize , Colorize or Rename your GIFs and that too just within a few steps by making use of the Batch Processing features of this software. You can customize the layout of this application by modifying the Settings of IrfanView. The biggest flexibility that this software offers is that you can add various third-party plugins to it in order to make it more powerful. Moreover, IrfanView supports a wide range of image file formats including GIF , BMP , JPG , TIFF, etc.

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IrfanView

How to Fix “Printer is in an error state” Issue?

The error “ WinRAR Error: Next Volume Is Required ” usually appears when you’re extracting a multi-part RAR archive and WinRAR can’t find (or can’t correctly identify) the next file in the sequence . This often happens when a volume is missing , stored in a different folder , or renamed in a way that breaks the archive’s expected order .

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In this guide, we’ll go over the most reliable fixes confirmed by affected users, along with what each method is doing behind the scenes so you can choose the right one for your situation.

Important: To extract multi-volume archives, you should always start extraction from the first file in the set. This is usually file.part1.rar , or (in older sets) the main .rar file that comes before .r01 , .r02 , and so on.

1. Download and Place the Missing RAR File

WinRAR needs all parts of a multi-volume archive to complete extraction. This error usually appears when one of the volumes in a set like .part2.rar , .r01 , .r02 , .001 , and similar naming formats is missing . Downloading the missing volume and placing it in the same folder as the other parts allows WinRAR to continue extracting normally .

  1. Look at the error message or review the list of archive parts in the folder.
  2. Identify which volume is missing (for example, part2.rar , .r02 , .001 , etc.).
  3. Go back to the website or source where you downloaded the archive.
  4. Locate and download the exact missing file using the same naming format as the others.
  5. Make sure the new file name matches the pattern of the rest. Example: If you have file.part1.rar and file.part3.rar , the missing one must be file.part2.rar .
  6. Move the downloaded missing volume into the same folder as the other archive parts.
  7. Confirm that all parts are in a single folder before extracting.
  8. Right-click the first file in the series (usually part1 or the main .rar file) and select Extract Here or Extract to Folder .
  9. WinRAR should now detect all volumes and continue extraction normally .

2. Manually Browse & Select the Next Volume

Use this method only if the next volume already exists , but WinRAR is failing to detect it automatically. This can happen due to incorrect naming , the file being in a different location , or a temporary file access issue. Manually browsing helps WinRAR locate the correct volume and resume extraction without interruption .

  1. Right-click the first file in the series (usually .rar or part1.rar ) and select Extract Here or Extract to Folder .
  2. When WinRAR cannot find the next volume, it will show the “ Next Volume Is Required ” message.
  3. A small window will appear, allowing you to manually select the next volume .
  4. Use the file explorer window to locate the folder where the other archive parts are saved.
  5. Select the next part based on the naming order (example: select file.part2.rar after file.part1.rar ).
  6. Make sure the selected file matches the naming format of the archive (no extra characters like (1) and no mismatched numbering).
  7. WinRAR will resume extraction using the selected volume .
  8. If additional volumes are missing or stored separately, WinRAR may prompt you again. Repeat the same process until extraction completes.

3. Rename the RAR files in Order

WinRAR relies on a proper naming sequence (such as file.part1.rar , file.part2.rar , file.part3.rar ) to extract multi-volume archives. If a file is named incorrectly, contains extra characters, or is out of order, WinRAR may fail to locate the next volume and show this error. Renaming the files correctly helps WinRAR follow the sequence and extract the archive without interruptions .

Note: Renaming only changes the file name , not the file contents. The goal is to restore the correct sequence so WinRAR can detect the next volume.

  1. Go to the folder where all the RAR files are saved.
  2. Make sure all parts of the archive are present and stored in the same folder .
  3. Check how the parts are currently named . Common patterns include:
file.part1.rar, file.part2.rar, file.part3.rar
file.rar, file.r01, file.r02, file.r03
  1. Look for files that don’t match the expected numbering pattern (for example, file.part01.rar , file.part1(1).rar , or unrelated names).
  2. Rename each file so it follows the same order without extra characters or mismatched numbering. Example:
Incorrect: file.part1.rar, file.part3.rar, file.part2(1).rar
Correct: file.part1.rar, file.part2.rar, file.part3.rar
  1. Make sure the text before the number is exactly the same for all files.
  2. Only the last part number should change.
  3. Right-click the first file in the series (usually part1.rar or the main .rar file) and select Extract Here .
  4. WinRAR should now recognize the sequence and continue extraction normally .

If you still get the same prompt: the archive set is likely incomplete (a part was never downloaded or was removed), or one of the volumes is corrupt and must be re-downloaded from the original source.