The short version
- Browser tabs use 16x16 and 32x32 — that is what favicon.ico is for, and one .ico can hold both.
- Google search shows your favicon only if a square at a multiple of 48px exists: 48, 96, 144 or 192.
- iPhone home screens fetch a 180x180 apple-touch-icon; Android reads 192x192 and 512x512 from the manifest.
- Ship a multi-size favicon.ico at the site root plus PNGs at 96, 180, 192 and 512 — that set covers every current surface.
- Generate everything from one square master of 512px or more; never upscale a small icon to make a big one.
Ask what size a favicon should be and you get answers from 16 pixels to 512, all of them correct for one surface and wrong for the rest. A browser tab renders 16x16 or 32x32. Google's search results want a square that is a multiple of 48. An iPhone saving your site to the home screen fetches a 180x180 apple-touch-icon. Android and the web-app install prompt read 192x192 and 512x512 from the manifest. No single file serves all of those well.
The practical answer is a small set generated from one square master: a multi-size favicon.ico for browsers, one PNG at a 48-multiple for Google, the 180px Apple icon, and the two Android sizes. Everything else in the tables below is optional coverage for older or narrower surfaces.
Every size is downscaled from the master you start with, so the master is the only image whose quality you control. Use a square of 512 pixels or larger — ideally the original vector — and let a generator cut the set, rather than resizing by hand and rounding a 16-pixel grid into mush.
The short answer: the minimal set
Five files cover every surface that matters today. The favicon.ico carries the small browser sizes in one request and catches the clients that ask for /favicon.ico by convention without reading your HTML. The 96px PNG satisfies Google's multiple-of-48 rule at better quality than the 48 inside the ICO. The 180 is what iOS fetches, and the 192 and 512 are what Android and the install prompt use.
| File | Size | Who reads it |
|---|---|---|
| favicon.ico | 16, 32 and 48 in one file | Browser tabs, bookmarks, Windows taskbar |
| favicon-96x96.png | 96 x 96 | Google search results (multiple of 48) |
| apple-touch-icon.png | 180 x 180 | iPhone and iPad home screens |
| android-chrome-192x192.png | 192 x 192 | Android home screen, install prompt |
| android-chrome-512x512.png | 512 x 512 | Install splash screen, app switcher |
Every favicon size and what uses it
The full chart, for when you need a specific surface rather than the minimal set. Sizes not listed here exist in the wild — an .ico can technically hold anything — but these are the ones a current browser, search engine or operating system will actually request.
Note what is absent: there is no benefit to shipping every size. Each extra link element is another line of head markup and another candidate for a crawler to weigh. Cover the surfaces you care about and stop.
| Size | Surface | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 16 x 16 | Browser tab, address bar | The classic favicon; still the most-rendered size |
| 32 x 32 | Retina tabs, Windows taskbar | The 16 doubled for high-density screens |
| 48 x 48 | Google search, Windows desktop | Smallest size eligible for Google's SERP |
| 64 x 64 | Windows site shortcuts | Optional; covered by the ICO if included |
| 96 x 96 | Google search, older Android | A 48-multiple at better quality than 48 |
| 120 / 152 / 167 | Older iPhones and iPads | Legacy apple-touch-icon sizes |
| 144 x 144 | Windows tiles, Google search | A 48-multiple; legacy Windows pin |
| 180 x 180 | iPhone and iPad home screen | The one apple-touch-icon size that matters now |
| 192 x 192 | Android home screen, PWA | Declared in the web app manifest |
| 512 x 512 | PWA splash and install | Declared in the web app manifest |
What size is favicon.ico?
A .ico file is not one size — it is a container holding several complete images, and the browser picks the entry closest to what it needs. That is the format's whole reason to exist: one request at a well-known path serves the 16 a tab wants and the 32 a retina tab wants.
The conventional recipe packs 16, 32 and 48. That matches what Zyff's generators write by default, and an .ico can carry entries up to 256 pixels if you want Windows desktop shortcuts to look sharp. What the format cannot do is satisfy the modern large-icon surfaces — iOS and the manifest sizes want PNGs, so an .ico alone is never the complete answer.
Keep the file at the site root as /favicon.ico even when your HTML declares everything explicitly. Some clients — older browsers, feed readers, corporate tools — request that path directly without reading a single link element, and the root file is what catches them.
- favicon.ico is a container: pack 16, 32 and 48 inside one file.
- Entries above 48 are optional; 256 makes Windows desktop shortcuts sharp.
- Keep it at the site root — some clients never read your HTML.
- It is a browser-compatibility file, not the whole favicon strategy.
ICO, PNG or SVG?
Use all three, for different jobs. ICO is the compatibility layer: universally understood, requested by convention, and the only sensible carrier for the multi-size small icons. PNG is the workhorse for every specific size above 48 — lossless, universally supported, and what Google and both mobile platforms expect. SVG is the modern option: a single vector icon that renders sharp at any size, with support in current browsers via rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml".
An SVG favicon is worth shipping when your mark is genuinely vector — it can even adapt to dark tab strips with a media query inside the file. But it supplements the raster set rather than replacing it: search engines and home-screen surfaces are specified around raster sizes, so ship the PNGs and the ICO alongside it.
The HTML that declares each size
Each icon gets one link element, and each link element should carry a sizes attribute — that is how anything reading your head knows which file fits its need without downloading all of them. The manifest sizes are not declared as links at all; they live in the web app manifest's icons array, and the manifest itself is linked once.
A complete head for the minimal set is six lines: the ICO, the 96 PNG, the SVG if you have one, the apple-touch-icon, and the manifest link. Zyff's favicon generator writes these lines for you, matched to exactly the files it produced, so the declared sizes and the real files cannot disagree.
If your favicon is set up and still missing from Google specifically, that is a different problem with its own checklist — the crawlability and freshness rules are covered in the guide on favicons in Google search.
Try it on Favicon Size Generator
Free, no signup, no watermark. Runs on Zyff’s servers, so you get the same result on a phone as on a desktop.
How to generate every favicon size from one image
Start from a square master
Use a square image at 512 pixels or larger — the original vector export if you have one. Every size is downscaled from this file, so its quality sets the ceiling for the whole set.
Generate the set
Upload it to Zyff's favicon size generator. It cuts the PNG sizes, packs 16, 32 and 48 into a multi-size favicon.ico, and produces the 180px Apple and 192/512px Android icons from the same master.
Keep at least one 48-multiple
Make sure the set includes a square PNG at 48, 96, 144 or 192 pixels. That is Google's eligibility rule for showing a favicon beside your search result — the 16 and 32 alone do not qualify.
Add the link tags
Copy the generated head markup: one link per icon with rel, type and sizes, plus the manifest link for the Android sizes. Put favicon.ico at the site root even though it is also declared.
Check a tab, then check the rest
The tab icon updates first. Home-screen icons show when you actually add the site to a home screen, and Google updates on its own crawl schedule — days to weeks, which is normal.
At a glance
| ICO sizes available | 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 128, 256 |
|---|---|
| PNG sizes available | 16, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, 144, 192, 256, 512 |
| Apple touch icon sizes | 120, 152, 167, 180 |
| Android / manifest sizes | 48–512, defaults 192 and 512 |
| Maskable icon | 512 x 512 with safe-zone padding |
| Upload ceiling | 25 MB |
| Price | Free, no account needed |
Frequently asked questions
What size should a favicon be?
A set, not a size: 16x16 and 32x32 for browser tabs (packed into favicon.ico), one square PNG at a multiple of 48 for Google search, 180x180 for iPhone home screens, and 192x192 plus 512x512 for Android and the install prompt. Generate them all from one square master of 512 pixels or larger.
Is 16x16 or 32x32 better for a favicon?
Ship both. A standard-density screen renders the 16 and a high-density screen renders the 32, and a single favicon.ico can carry the pair in one file. Choosing between them is the one thing you never have to do.
What size is favicon.ico?
Whatever sizes are packed inside it — an .ico is a container holding several complete images. The conventional and recommended contents are 16, 32 and 48 pixel entries; entries up to 256 are valid and make Windows desktop shortcuts sharper.
What favicon size does Google search use?
A square whose dimensions are a multiple of 48 pixels — 48, 96, 144 or 192. A favicon.ico holding only 16 and 32 has nothing eligible, which is the single most common reason a favicon shows in the tab but not in Google. The full checklist for that problem is in the favicons-in-Google-search guide.
What size is an apple-touch-icon?
180x180 covers every current iPhone and iPad. The older 120, 152 and 167 pixel variants exist for legacy devices, but iOS scales the 180 down where needed, so one 180px PNG named apple-touch-icon.png is the practical answer.
Can I just use one 512x512 PNG for everything?
It mostly works — browsers will downscale it — but it costs you where it counts. A 512 rendered at 16 pixels is blurrier than a purpose-made 16, tabs re-download an oversized file, and Windows taskbar pins still expect the ICO. Since the whole set is generated from one image in one step, there is no saving to be had from skipping it.
Do favicons have to be square?
Yes — every surface renders a square (or a circle cut from one). A non-square source gets cropped or padded to square first, so either crop it yourself to control what survives, or let the generator pad it with transparency.