Convert PNG to ICO
Drop your PNG logo and download an ICO with all the sizes a favicon needs.
Drop an image here
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PNG, JPG, WEBP, HEIC, AVIF, JXL, GIF, BMP, TIFF and SVG · up to 20 MB
What an ICO is, and why a favicon isn't just another image
ICO isn't a photo format, it's an icon format, and that difference explains everything else. A PNG stores one image. An ICO stores several resolutions of the same image inside one file, and whatever opens it picks the one it needs: 16 pixels for a browser tab, 32 for a shortcut, 256 for Windows Explorer in large-icon view.
That's why a favicon is still an ICO in 2026 rather than a plain PNG. It isn't nostalgia: an icon gets displayed at wildly different sizes, and a single image squeezed down to 16 pixels by the browser almost always turns to mush.
Why a 16-pixel icon isn't your logo made small
At 16 × 16 there's no room for detail. A logotype with text, gradients or fine lines becomes illegible at that size no matter how good the resampling, and the result is a tab with a smudge of colour on it. What works in a favicon is what works on a road sign:
- One recognisable shape, not the full brand composition.
- High contrast, because it will sit on both light and dark tabs.
- No text, unless it's a single letter.
- Generous margins: pressed against the edges it looks cramped next to the tab title.
If your logo is horizontal and includes the name, the usual move is to prepare a square version separately — the symbol alone, or the initial — and convert that. It buys more than any amount of technical tweaking afterwards.
Where the file goes
Upload it as favicon.ico at the root of your domain. Browsers ask for it there
out of habit even when you don't declare it, and declaring it as well costs
nothing:
<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="any">
If you still see the old one after replacing it, the conversion didn't fail: favicons are cached aggressively. Force a reload that clears the cache, or open the icon's URL directly to confirm the new one is being served.
Common questions
- What sizes does a favicon need?
- 16, 32 and 48 pixels cover desktop browsers, and 256 covers high-density screens and the Windows desktop. All four fit inside a single ICO file, which is exactly what the format is for.
- What if my PNG isn't square?
- ICO entries are always square. If yours isn't, it gets centred and padded with transparency rather than cropped: better to have spare space than to silently lose part of the logo.
- Is transparency kept?
- Yes. ICO supports an alpha channel, so a logo on a transparent background stays that way — which is what you want for it to look right on both light and dark tabs.
- Do I still need a favicon.ico if I already have a PNG?
- For modern browsers, a PNG declared in your HTML is enough. The ICO still earns its place because browsers request it from the domain root by default even when you don't declare it, and because one file answers every size.
- How big should the source PNG be?
- At least 256 × 256 pixels. Every entry is produced by scaling down, and scaling down preserves detail while scaling up invents it.
- Does this work for a Windows application icon?
- Yes, it's the same format. For that use, include the 256 size, which is what Explorer uses in large-icon view.