Skip to content
ImageConverter

Secure server conversion

PNG to ICO Converter

Convert a PNG into a Windows ICO file — usually a favicon. Unlike most converters, this builds a proper multi-size icon containing 16, 32, 48 and 256 pixel versions in one file, which is what the format is for and what makes an icon look right in every context rather than just one.

Deleted automatically Uploads removed within 30 minutes

Drag and drop your PNG images here

Add several at once. Each file is processed and then deleted from our server.

Up to 20 MB per file Batch ready

Step by step

How to convert PNG to ICO in 4 steps

  1. Add your PNG

    A square image works best — ideally 256×256 or larger.

  2. Nothing to configure

    The standard icon sizes are generated automatically from your image.

  3. Download the .ico file

  4. For a website

    For a website, rename it favicon.ico and put it in your site's root directory.

Format comparison

PNG vs ICO

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

Lossless

Stores every pixel exactly as it was saved, so nothing is lost however often the file is opened and saved.

  • Pixel-perfect: ideal for screenshots, logos and text
  • Supported everywhere, including every browser
  • Photographs make large files — often several times the JPG size

ICO (Windows Icon)

Multi-size icon

Bundles several sizes of the same small image in one file, for Windows icons and website favicons.

  • Several icon sizes in a single file
  • Understood by every browser as a favicon
  • Only for small images — each entry is at most 256 × 256 pixels

The single most useful thing to understand about ICO is that it is a container, not an image format. One .ico file holds several complete images at different sizes, and whatever is displaying the icon picks the one that fits.

That is the entire reason the format still exists in a world of PNGs. The same file is used in wildly different places:

  • 16×16 — browser tabs, address bars, bookmark lists.
  • 32×32 — high-density browser tabs, the Windows taskbar, shortcut icons.
  • 48×48 — desktop shortcuts and Explorer's medium icon view.
  • 256×256 — Explorer's large icon view, and what Windows scales down from when it needs something in between.

This is where most icons go wrong. A converter that puts a single size in the file forces every other context to scale it. A lone 16×16 becomes a blurry mess as a desktop shortcut; a lone 256×256 scaled down to 16 turns fine detail into mud, because at that size a logo needs simplifying rather than shrinking.

This tool generates all four sizes from your PNG and packs them into one file. Sizes larger than your source are skipped: upscaling a 32px logo to 256 would produce a soft entry that Windows would then happily choose over the crisp small one.

What is inside

Each size is stored as PNG data within the ICO container. Windows has supported that since Vista and every browser accepts it, and it keeps full transparency — including soft, partially transparent edges — which the older BMP-based form handles poorly.

Quality

Quality and file size

There is no quality setting: every size is stored losslessly, so the icon is as sharp as the source allows.

What matters instead is the source image, and three things about it:

  • Start large. 256×256 or bigger. Everything is scaled down from your PNG, and downscaling looks good where upscaling does not.
  • Make it square. Icons are square. A rectangular source will be fitted into a square, and the result is rarely what you intended — crop it first.
  • Keep the design simple. This is the one most people miss. At 16×16 you have 256 pixels in total. A detailed logo with fine lettering becomes unreadable at that size no matter how good the scaling is. Successful favicons are usually a single letter, a simple mark, or a bold shape.

If your logo is detailed, consider making a simplified version for the icon rather than shrinking the full one. Look at the favicons of sites you use often: almost all of them are far simpler than the company's actual logo.

Transparency is preserved, and it is usually what you want — a favicon with a white background looks like a white square against a dark browser theme.

Using your favicon on a website

The simplest approach still works: name the file favicon.ico and put it in your site's root. Browsers look there automatically, with no HTML required.

To be explicit, or to serve additional formats alongside it:

<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="any">
<link rel="icon" href="/icon.svg" type="image/svg+xml">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png">

Modern practice is to offer an SVG icon for browsers that support it and keep the ICO as the universal fallback. The ICO is still worth having: it is what older browsers, Windows shortcuts and many feed readers and link previews look for.

Why not just use a PNG favicon?

You can — browsers accept <link rel="icon" href="/icon.png">. But a PNG is one size, so you would need several files and several link tags to cover the same ground one ICO covers alone. And ICO remains the format Windows itself uses for shortcuts and application icons, so it is the one to have if your site might be pinned or saved to a desktop.

Other uses for ICO

  • Windows application icons, embedded into an .exe.
  • Desktop and Start menu shortcuts.
  • Folder icons, set through a folder's properties.
  • Installer and packaging tools, which usually require ICO specifically.

All of those benefit from the multi-size file for the same reason a favicon does: Windows displays icons at several sizes depending on the view, and picks from what the file offers.

Checking the result

An icon that looks right at full size can be illegible in a tab. Before committing to one, view it small: open the ICO, or simply look at your site in a browser tab, and judge it at the size people will actually see. If you cannot tell what it is, simplify the design rather than adjusting the conversion.

Privacy

What happens to your file

This tool runs on our server, so it works the same on every phone and computer. Your file is uploaded, and this is exactly what happens to it:

  • Stored outside the public web root under a random name, never under your file's name.
  • Processed, with the original upload deleted immediately — whether it succeeded or failed.
  • The result sits behind a signed link that only you receive, which stops working after 20 minutes, and the file is deleted the moment you download it.
  • Anything never collected is deleted automatically within 30 minutes.
  • The image itself is never logged or kept. If a conversion fails, we record the formats involved and the error — not the file.
  • Camera metadata, including any GPS coordinates recording where a photo was taken, is removed from the result. Only the rotation needed to show the image the right way up is kept.

Questions & answers

PNG to ICO: frequently asked questions

What size should my PNG be?

256×256 or larger, and square. Every icon size is scaled down from your source, and downscaling produces good results where upscaling does not. If your image is rectangular, crop it to a square first — otherwise it will be fitted into one for you.

Does the ICO contain more than one size?

Yes — that is the point of the format. This tool builds 16, 32, 48 and 256 pixel versions into a single file, so browsers, the taskbar and desktop shortcuts each get a size made for them rather than scaling a mismatch. Sizes larger than your source are skipped, since upscaling would produce a soft entry the system might then prefer.

Is transparency preserved?

Yes, fully, including soft partially transparent edges. Each size is stored as PNG data inside the ICO, which handles transparency properly — the older BMP-based form does not. A favicon with a white background looks like a white square against a dark browser theme, so transparency is usually what you want.

Where do I put the favicon file?

Name it favicon.ico and place it in your website's root directory. Browsers look there automatically with no HTML required. You can also reference it explicitly with <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="any">.

My logo is unreadable at 16 pixels. What should I do?

Simplify the design rather than adjusting the conversion. At 16×16 you have 256 pixels in total, and no scaling algorithm can make detailed lettering legible in that space. Most successful favicons are a single letter, a simple mark or a bold shape — look at the sites you use daily and you will see how much simpler their icons are than their logos.

Should I use ICO or SVG for a favicon?

Both. Modern practice is an SVG icon for browsers that support it, with the ICO as a universal fallback — and ICO is still what Windows shortcuts, older browsers and many link-preview tools look for.

Keep going

Related image tools

View all tools

ICO to PNG Converter

Convert Windows ICO files to PNG, keeping transparency. Extracts the largest image the icon contains.

On our server

PNG to WebP Converter

Convert PNG to WebP and keep full transparency. Typically 25–50% smaller than PNG. Free, with no sign-up.

On our server

Resize Image

Change an image to any pixel size. Keep the proportions or set both dimensions, with presets for social media. Free, no sign-up.

On our server

Crop Image

Drag to crop any image, with square and 16:9 ratio presets. Free, no sign-up, and it works the same on every phone and computer.

On our server