Convert PNG to ICO (favicon)
This makes a proper favicon, not just a renamed PNG: the output .ico packs 16×16, 32×32 and 48×48 versions in one file, each downscaled cleanly from your source, so browsers and Windows pick the sharpest size for every context. Start from a square PNG of at least 48px — 256px is ideal. Non-square images are center-cropped.
Need the other direction? Convert ICO to PNG
How it works
Start with a square PNG of 48px or more — 256px is the sweet spot — and drop it on the tool.
The image is center-cropped square if needed, then downscaled cleanly into 16, 32 and 48px entries with alpha preserved.
Place the finished .ico at your site root as /favicon.ico, or download several logos’ worth in one zip.
PNG vs ICO
This is less a contest than a packaging step: the PNG holds your artwork at full fidelity, the ICO repackages it into the 16/32/48px trio that tabs, taskbars and shortcuts actually request. Every serious site ends up shipping both, each doing the job the other can’t.
| PNG | ICO | |
|---|---|---|
| Compression | Lossless | Lossless (BMP or PNG entries) |
| Transparency | Yes (full alpha) | Yes (full alpha) |
| Animation | No | No |
| Support | Universal — every browser, editor and OS | Universal for favicons |
| Best for | Logos, screenshots, graphics with transparency | Favicons and Windows app icons |
Frequently asked questions
No — that is the whole reason I built this. The conversion runs in your browser using WebAssembly, so your files never leave your device; there is no server in the loop at all. It also means the tool keeps working offline once the page has loaded, and there is no file size limit beyond your device’s memory.
Different contexts want different sizes: browser tabs use 16px, taskbars and bookmarks 32px, Windows shortcuts 48px. A multi-size ICO lets each consumer pick its native size instead of scaling one image badly — that is what the format was designed for.
Mostly yes, still: modern browsers accept PNG favicons via <link rel="icon">, but /favicon.ico remains the universal fallback that browsers, crawlers, RSS readers and old bookmarks request directly. My honest advice: ship both — this .ico at the site root, plus a 512px PNG for high-DPI and PWA use.
Icons are square by definition, so the tool center-crops to the largest square before scaling. If the crop would cut something important, square the image in an editor first — or better, export a square version from your design tool.
Yes — the icons are written as 32-bit images with full alpha, so a transparent PNG logo becomes a favicon with clean transparent corners in every size. No white boxes around your icon in dark-mode browser tabs.
Coverage. A modern <link rel="icon"> PNG handles current browsers, but /favicon.ico is what crawlers, feed readers, older pinned tabs and bookmark importers fetch blindly. The .ico also bundles three sizes, so nothing rescales a 512px asset down to 16px at request time. Two files, one minute, every consumer covered.
Wide wordmarks (they center-crop to an unreadable middle), photographs (see JPG to ICO for why detail dies at 16px), and anything under 48px, which forces upscaling. The ideal source is a square, simple, high-contrast mark around 256px — most logo systems keep exactly that as the "symbol" variant.
Related tools
Convert ICO to PNG
Convert ICO files to PNG in your browser — free, private, no upload. Extract a favicon or Windows icon as an editable lossless image with alpha intact.
Convert JPG to ICO (favicon)
Convert JPG to a multi-size ICO favicon in your browser — free, no upload. You get 16, 32 and 48px icons in one file, center-cropped to a clean square.
Convert SVG to ICO (favicon)
Convert SVG to ICO in your browser — free, no upload. The best favicon source there is: vectors render pixel-sharp at 48, 32 and 16px in a single file.
Convert PNG to PDF
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