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PNG to ICO converter and favicon generator

Turn a PNG, JPG, WebP or SVG into a multi-size favicon.ico, or make one from letters or an emoji, and get every other favicon file with the HTML to paste.

Your icon

Make it from

Corner rounding22%
Sizes inside favicon.ico

Microsoft asks for 16, 32 and 48. Larger sizes add sharpness on dense screens and weight to the file.

Runs in your browser. Nothing you upload leaves your device.

Previews

Browser tab, light
Acme
Browser tab, dark
Acme
iPhone home screen
Acme
Mobile search result
Acmehttps://example.com

Acme

Your page’s description appears here, under the title.

Your files

  • …

Paste into your <head>

<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="16x16 32x32 48x48">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/favicon-32x32.png">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="16x16" href="/favicon-16x16.png">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/apple-touch-icon.png">
<link rel="manifest" href="/site.webmanifest">

Quick answer

What size should a favicon be?

Ship a favicon.ico holding 16, 32 and 48 px images, a 180 × 180 apple-touch-icon.png, and 192 and 512 px PNGs listed in site.webmanifest. Google needs a square of at least 8 × 8 px and recommends larger than 48 × 48. Converting PNG to ICO packs those PNGs into one file: a 6-byte header, 16 bytes per image, then the images.

How to convert PNG to ICO

  1. Choose a source

    Drop a PNG, JPG, WebP or SVG, or type one or two letters or an emoji. A square image of 512 px or more works best.

  2. Style it

    Set the background, corner rounding and padding. The previews show the result in a browser tab, on a home screen and in search.

  3. Pick the ICO sizes

    16, 32 and 48 px are on by default. Add 64, 128 or 256 if you want the icon sharp on large, dense displays.

  4. Download and paste

    Download the ZIP, put the files at your site’s root, and paste the link tags into your <head>.

How the converter works

An ICO file is a small directory followed by images. It starts with a 6-byte header (reserved 0, type 1, image count), then a 16-byte entry per image giving its width, height, bits per pixel, byte size and position in the file. Since Windows Vista each image may be a complete PNG, which is what this converter writes: every size is drawn fresh on a canvas, encoded as PNG and packed in.

Letters, emoji and SVGs are drawn as vectors at each size, so even 16 px stays crisp. Photos and PNGs are scaled down in halves for a clean result. Apple documents the apple-touch-icon file and its 180 × 180 size but not transparency; iOS fills transparent pixels in a home screen icon, often with black, so that file is flattened onto a colour. iOS also rounds icon corners itself, so it is exported square.

Formula
ICO bytes = 6 + 16 × images + sum of PNG bytes offset of image n = 6 + 16 × images + bytes of images before n width byte = size, or 0 for 256

Worked example

  1. Three PNGs: 16 px (420 bytes), 32 px (830 bytes), 48 px (1,350 bytes).
  2. Header and directory: 6 + 16 × 3 = 54 bytes.
  3. Offsets: 16 px at 54, 32 px at 54 + 420 = 474, 48 px at 474 + 830 = 1,304.
  4. File size: 54 + 420 + 830 + 1,350 = 2,654 bytes.
  5. Each entry stores 1 plane and 32 bits per pixel; a 256 px image is written as 0 × 0.

Favicon sizes and what each file does

FileSizeUsed by
favicon.ico16, 32, 48 pxBrowser tabs and bookmarks, Windows, and any tool that requests /favicon.ico
favicon-16x16.png, favicon-32x32.png16 and 32 pxBrowsers that pick a PNG icon from the link tags
apple-touch-icon.png180 × 180 pxiPhone and iPad home screens, Safari favourites
android-chrome-192x192.png, -512x512.png192 and 512 pxAndroid home screens and installed web apps; Chromium needs both
site.webmanifestTextLists the Android icons, the name and the colours
favicon.svgAny sizeBrowsers that support SVG favicons (only when your source is an SVG)

How to check your favicon

Open yoursite.com/favicon.ico and view your home page’s source for rel="icon" and rel="apple-touch-icon" links. For Google Search, the favicon must be square, at least 8 × 8 px (Google recommends larger than 48 × 48), on a stable URL, and crawlable: Googlebot must reach the home page and Googlebot-Image the icon. Google shows one favicon per hostname. To see which sizes a favicon.ico holds, drop it into the converter above.

Favicon and ICO questions

How do I convert PNG to ICO?
Drop the PNG into the converter above, keep the 16, 32 and 48 px sizes, and download favicon.ico. It runs in your browser, so the file is ready in a second and never uploaded.
What size should a favicon be?
favicon.ico with 16, 32 and 48 px, plus a 180 px Apple touch icon and 192 and 512 px Android icons. Start from a square image of at least 512 px.
What is an ICO file?
A Windows icon format that holds several images of different sizes in one file. Browsers pick the best size for each place the icon appears.
Can one ICO file hold several sizes?
Yes. That is its purpose: a 6-byte header, one 16-byte entry per image, then the images. This converter packs 16, 32 and 48 px by default, up to 256 px.
Why is my favicon not showing in Google?
Google needs a square icon of at least 8 × 8 px linked from the home page, crawlable by Googlebot-Image, on a stable URL. Recrawling can take days to weeks.
Does a favicon have to be square?
Yes for Google Search, which requires a 1:1 icon. A wide logo is shrunk to fit; a square mark reads better at 16 px.
Can I use an SVG as a favicon?
Yes, alongside favicon.ico. Upload an SVG and the converter passes it through as favicon.svg with its link tag. Google Search does not list SVG among its favicon formats, so keep the ICO.
Why does my Apple touch icon have a black background?
iOS fills transparent pixels in home screen icons, often with black. The converter always flattens apple-touch-icon.png onto a background colour you choose.
Is my image uploaded?
No. Every file is drawn and packed in your browser, and nothing leaves your device.

Cite this tool

Free to link and quote. Use this reference:

SaaSCity, "PNG to ICO Converter & Favicon Generator", October 27, 2026. https://saascity.io/free-tools/png-to-ico

Sources