Favicon size: every dimension you need in 2026
The sizes browsers, Google Search, iOS and Android actually use — 16 × 16 to 512 × 512 — which formats to ship, and the HTML that links them. Generate the whole set locally.
There is no single favicon size. A browser tab uses a 16 × 16 or 32 × 32 pixel icon; Google shows a 48 × 48 version next to search results and asks for the file to be a multiple of 48; iPhones want a 180 × 180 PNG for the home screen; Android and progressive web apps read 192 × 192 and 512 × 512 icons from a manifest. A complete set is therefore a handful of files generated from one square master image of at least 512 × 512 pixels.
The good news is that modern browsers also accept an SVG favicon, which scales to any size, and that a single multi-resolution ICO file covers every legacy case. The table below lists what each platform reads and the file it expects.
Favicon sizes by platform
| Where it appears | Size | File / tag |
|---|---|---|
| Browser tab, bookmarks | 16 × 16, 32 × 32 px | favicon.ico (multi-size) or PNG via rel="icon" |
| Windows taskbar / pinned | 48 × 48 px | inside favicon.ico |
| Google Search results | 48 × 48 px multiples | any valid favicon ≥ 48 × 48, square |
| iOS / iPadOS home screen | 180 × 180 px | rel="apple-touch-icon" PNG |
| Android home screen | 192 × 192 px | manifest.json icons |
| PWA install / splash | 512 × 512 px | manifest.json icons |
| Any size, modern browsers | vector | rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" |
Google requires the favicon to be square, at least 8 × 8 and ideally larger than 48 × 48, served from a stable URL on the site’s root domain; one favicon per host.
The minimum set for a normal website
- favicon.ico in the site root containing 16, 32 and 48 px — the fallback every browser and crawler finds without markup.
- A 32 × 32 or 48 × 48 PNG linked with <link rel="icon"> — sharper than ICO in current browsers.
- A 180 × 180 PNG linked as apple-touch-icon — what Safari uses when a site is added to the iOS home screen.
- 192 × 192 and 512 × 512 PNGs referenced from a web app manifest — needed for Android “add to home screen” and PWAs.
Optionally add an SVG icon; browsers that understand it pick the vector, older ones fall back to the PNG or ICO. All of these can be produced at once from a single square source with the favicon generator.
Design rules that survive 16 pixels
At 16 × 16 a favicon has 256 pixels in total. Wordmarks, thin lines and gradients disappear; a single bold shape or letter on a solid background stays recognisable. Design the master at 512 × 512, then look at the 16-pixel export — if it reads, everything larger will too. Keep a small margin so the icon does not touch the edges, and avoid pure white backgrounds, which vanish against a light tab bar (a transparent PNG with a coloured shape works better).
Favicon in Google Search
Google shows a site’s favicon next to its results on mobile and desktop. To be eligible the icon must be square, at least 8 × 8 pixels (48 × 48 or larger recommended, in multiples of 48), reachable by Googlebot, linked from the home page with rel="icon", "shortcut icon" or "apple-touch-icon", and hosted on the same domain — one favicon per host, at a URL that does not change. Google may still choose not to show it, or replace it with a default if the image is inappropriate.
The HTML that links the set
Place the tags in the <head> of every page: <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="any">, <link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="/icon.svg">, <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png"> and <link rel="manifest" href="/manifest.webmanifest"> where the manifest lists the 192 and 512 px icons. The generator outputs exactly this snippet along with the files.
Frequently asked questions
Provide several: 16 × 16 and 32 × 32 for tabs (in favicon.ico or PNG), 48 × 48 for Google, 180 × 180 for iOS and 192 × 192 plus 512 × 512 for Android and PWAs. Start from a 512 × 512 master.
For browser tabs yes, but Google Search wants at least 48 × 48 and mobile home screens need 180 or 192 px. A single 32 px file looks blurry there.
Both. ICO is the universal fallback (and can hold several sizes in one file); PNG is sharper in modern browsers; SVG scales to any size where supported.
Google reads any square favicon of at least 8 × 8 px but recommends 48 × 48 or larger in multiples of 48, served from a stable URL on the root domain.
No. The favicon generator resizes and packages everything inside your browser; nothing is sent to a server.