PNG to ICO converter
Turn a PNG into an ICO file for a favicon or a Windows icon, with 16, 32, 48 and 256 pixel sizes inside and the transparent background kept. Free, and the file never leaves this device.
What an ICO file is
ICO is the icon format of Windows, and the original format of the favicon, the small picture a browser shows in a tab and beside a bookmark. Unlike a PNG, one ICO file holds the same picture at several sizes, and whatever shows it picks the one that fits: 16 pixels in a tab, 32 on a high-resolution screen, larger sizes on the Windows desktop. This converter writes four sizes (16, 32, 48 and 256 pixels square) into each file, each stored as a PNG, which keeps the transparency of the original exactly.
How to convert PNG to ICO
- Start from a square PNG of at least 256 by 256 pixels, cropped close around the logo or symbol, ideally with a transparent background.
- Drop it on this page, choose it, or paste a copied image. Several files at once is fine.
- Save. Click Save ICO next to the file, or Save all to get every icon in one ZIP. Each ICO keeps the name of the original with the new extension.
Making a good favicon
A favicon is shown at 16 pixels, the size of a single letter. Detail disappears at that size, so use the simplest form of the brand: the symbol without the name, or a single letter, filling most of the square. Thin lines vanish and pale colours wash out against a light browser tab, so check the result in a tab of your own site before you publish.
If the logo has a background you do not want, remove it first: removing the background from a logo gives a transparent PNG, and that PNG converts here into an ICO that sits cleanly on light and dark browser themes. A picture that is not square is fitted into the square and centred, never stretched, with the space around it left transparent.
Using the ICO on a website
Put the file at the root of the site as favicon.ico. Browsers ask for /favicon.ico on their own, and a line in the head of the page makes it explicit: <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="any">. Many sites add a PNG or SVG icon and a 180 by 180 pixel apple-touch-icon for phones as well; the ICO is the one that works everywhere, including older browsers and Windows shortcuts.
Converting without uploading
Most online ICO converters send the file to a server. This page reads the PNG, draws each size and writes the ICO inside your browser tab, with the browser's own image functions, so the logo is never sent to getPNG or anyone else. Load the page, switch off Wi-Fi, and it still works.
Guides that go further
Part of cutouts for a purpose. What each format is, when to use it, and what to do when a file will not open.
- How to make a logo transparent, even from a photoHow to make a logo transparent, from a file or a photo of paper, a sign or a shirt: fix the angle, save a transparent PNG, then trace a vector with getSVG.
- Transparent PNG: what it is, where it works, and where it failsA transparent PNG stores see-through pixels, not a checkered background. How to tell a real one, where transparency survives, and where it turns white.
- How to reduce a PNG's file size without losing transparencyReduce PNG file size by resizing, cutting colours and lossless optimising, with free PNG optimizer tools that keep transparency and run on your own device.
- Photo file formats: HEIC, JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and more, explainedPhoto file formats compared: which keep transparency, which every app opens, and what to turn a HEIC, AVIF, WebP or JFIF into before you edit or share it.
Questions
How do I convert a PNG to an ICO file for free?
Drop the PNG on this page, or choose it. It is turned into an ICO in your browser and appears in the list with a Save ICO button; several files at once come together as a ZIP with Save all. There is no account, no watermark and no limit on the number of files.
Which sizes are inside the ICO?
Four: 16, 32, 48 and 256 pixels square. 16 and 32 are what browser tabs and bookmarks use, 48 is a common Windows desktop size, and 256 is the large one Windows scales down from for big icon views.
Does the ICO keep the transparent background?
Yes. Each size is stored as a PNG inside the ICO file, which keeps the alpha channel exactly, so a transparent logo stays transparent in a browser tab and on the Windows desktop.
What happens to a picture that is not square?
It is fitted into the square as large as it goes and centred, and the space around it is left transparent. It is never stretched. For the sharpest result, crop the picture to a square first, close around the logo or symbol.
Will a small PNG look blurry in the ICO?
The 256 pixel size will, if the PNG is smaller than that, because it has to be enlarged. The small sizes used in a browser tab are made by scaling down and stay sharp. Start from a PNG of at least 256 by 256 pixels.
How do I use the ICO as a favicon?
Save it as favicon.ico in the root folder of your website, so it is at yoursite.com/favicon.ico, and add a line to the head of the page: link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="any". Browsers look for /favicon.ico even without the line.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The PNG is read, resized and written as an ICO inside your browser tab with the browser's own image functions. Nothing is sent to getPNG or anyone else, and the page keeps working with the connection off.
Your files never leave this device
Most online converters upload every file to a server, convert it there and keep it for a while. Here your browser decodes and encodes the picture itself, so there is nowhere for the file to go. You can check it: load this page, switch the browser to offline, and convert a file. How to check a site is not uploading your photos.