Platform sizes
Favicon sizes
By Suprabhat Updated How we write these
1 min read
The short answer
A website needs a favicon.ico (16 and 32 px inside) or an SVG favicon, a 180 × 180 Apple touch icon for iPhones, and 192 × 192 and 512 × 512 PNGs for the web app manifest. For Google Search the icon must be square and should be larger than 48 × 48.
Files to make
| favicon.ico | 16 × 16 and 32 × 32 px, in one file |
|---|---|
| SVG favicon | any size, scales perfectly (optional) |
| Apple touch icon | 180 × 180 px PNG, no transparency |
| Web app manifest | 192 × 192 and 512 × 512 px PNG |
Google Search
| Shape | square (1:1) |
|---|---|
| Size | at least 8 × 8 px; larger than 48 × 48 recommended |
| Formats | ICO, PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PPM or TIFF |
Why a favicon doesn’t show in Google
Google shows one favicon per site, from the home page’s <link rel="icon">. It has to be square, crawlable (not blocked by robots.txt) and at a stable URL, and it can take weeks to appear after a change. A tiny or rectangular icon is ignored; a square PNG of 48 × 48 or larger is the safe choice.
Questions
What size should a favicon be?
32 × 32 pixels for browser tabs (with 16 × 16 in the same .ico), plus a 180 × 180 icon for iPhones and 192 and 512 px icons for Android and installed web apps.
Why is my favicon not showing in Google?
It isn’t square, it’s too small, it’s blocked from crawling, or Google hasn’t recrawled yet. Use a square icon larger than 48 × 48 linked from your home page.
Should a favicon be transparent?
Browser-tab icons can be. The Apple touch icon shouldn’t be: iOS fills transparency with black. The favicon generator flattens it for you.
Where these numbers come from
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-28. Platforms change their rules; if one has, the upload limits page changelog says so.