PNG to ICO converter and favicon maker

How to convert PNG to ICO

1. Add your imageChoose a PNG, JPG, WebP or SVG file, or drop it on the box. A square image of at least 256 by 256 pixels gives the best result.
2. Pick the icon sizesTick the sizes you want inside the ICO. 16, 32 and 48 are selected for you. If the picture is not square, choose between transparent edges and a centered crop.
3. Download the ICO or the kitPress Download ICO for one file with every size, or Download favicon kit for a ZIP with the PNG icons, the web manifest and a ready-made block of HTML to paste into your page.

What is an ICO file?

ICO is the icon format used by Windows and by browsers for the small picture in a tab, a bookmark or a shortcut. One ICO file can hold the same artwork at several sizes, so the system can pick the one that fits: a 16 pixel icon in a browser tab, a 32 pixel one on a taskbar, a 256 pixel one in a folder view.

This ICO converter stores each size as a PNG inside the ICO container, which keeps transparency and soft edges intact. That layout is read by every current version of Windows and by all major browsers.

Making a favicon for your website

As a favicon generator, this page covers the files a site needs today: favicon.ico, 16 and 32 pixel PNG icons for browsers, a 180 pixel apple-touch-icon for iPhone and iPad home screens, 192 and 512 pixel icons for Android, and a site.webmanifest that points to them. The apple-touch-icon is placed on a white background, because iOS fills transparent areas with black.

Upload the files to the root of your site, then copy the HTML shown under the preview into the head of your pages. The favicon maker also has an App name field, which is written into the manifest.

Search engines use the same file. Google asks for a favicon whose side is a multiple of 48 pixels, which is why 48 is part of the default selection and a 192 pixel icon is included in the kit.

Sources: Google Search Central: Define a favicon

JPG to ICO and other image formats

You can start from almost any picture. For a JPG to ICO conversion, keep in mind that JPG has no transparency, so the icon will be a filled square or rectangle. If you need see-through corners, use a PNG or SVG that already has them, or crop the logo out first with the Crop Image tool.

Any image to ICO works the same way: PNG and WebP keep their transparent areas, and an SVG is drawn at high resolution before it is scaled down, so lines stay crisp even at 16 pixels.

Choosing sizes and handling non-square images

Small icons lose detail quickly. A logo with fine lettering often needs a simpler version for 16 and 32 pixels, so check the preview, which shows each size as it will really look. Sizes above your source image are enlarged and may look soft, and the page warns you when that happens.

Icons are square. A wide or tall image can be padded with transparent edges, which keeps the whole picture, or cropped to its centered square, which fills the icon but cuts the sides.

• 16 and 32 pixels: browser tabs and bookmarks.
• 48 pixels: a common base size for Windows icons and for search result favicons.
• 64 to 256 pixels: desktop shortcuts and large icon views in Windows.

Questions