The Modern Favicon Is a Collection
A single favicon.ico hasn't been enough for years. Modern browsers, operating systems, and devices each expect different sizes and formats. A complete favicon setup includes at least 6 files plus declarations in your HTML head. Miss one and your site shows a generic globe or letter icon in some context — bookmark bars, iOS home screens, Android app shortcuts, or PWA splash screens.
Every Favicon Size You Need
- favicon.ico (16×16, 32×32): The classic format, still used by browser tabs and bookmark bars. ICO is a container format that holds multiple sizes in one file. Include both 16 and 32.
- 16×16 PNG: For legacy browser tab support.
- 32×32 PNG: For modern browser tabs and Windows taskbar.
- 180×180 PNG (Apple Touch Icon): Shown when users add your site to the iOS home screen. iOS adds rounded corners and a subtle drop shadow automatically — don't bake these into the image or they'll be doubled.
- 192×192 PNG (Android Chrome): Used by Android Chrome for the home screen shortcut and in the PWA splash screen.
- 512×512 PNG: For the PWA manifest — shown during Android app installation and on high-DPI devices.
HTML Declarations
<link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="/favicon.svg">
<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">SVG favicon (first line) is the modern preference — it scales to any size and supports dark mode via the prefers-color-scheme media query inside the SVG. Provide PNG fallbacks for platforms that don't support SVG favicons.
PWA Manifest
The web app manifest (manifest.json) provides icons for Android PWA installation:
{
"icons": [
{ "src": "/icon-192x192.png", "sizes": "192x192", "type": "image/png" },
{ "src": "/icon-512x512.png", "sizes": "512x512", "type": "image/png" }
]
}Generate a Complete Favicon Set
Upload your source image (PNG or JPG, ideally 512×512 or larger, square) to ToolsVito's Favicon Generator. Get back a complete set: favicon.ico, multiple PNG sizes, Apple Touch icon, Android icons, and the HTML declarations to paste into your head. All generated in your browser.