Convert ICO to APNG Online

Convert ICO to APNG Online

ICO is the Windows icon container — a single .ico can hold several sizes and color depths, usually with transparency. APNG (Animated PNG) keeps that full alpha channel but adds frame-by-frame animation, which makes it a good target when you want an animated icon, an animated favicon, or a small looping UI graphic that still has clean anti-aliased edges. Upload one ICO for a single-frame APNG, or queue several icons in order and stitch them into one animated PNG. No sign-up, no watermark.

How to Convert ICO to APNG

1. Upload Your ICO Files: Drag and drop your .ico files onto the page or click "+ Add Files" to browse. To build an animation, add several icons — they become frames in the order you upload them.
2. Set the Framerate: Open the options and use the "FRAMERATE" dropdown (10 FPS is the recommended default) to control how fast the frames advance. A lower framerate holds each frame longer; a higher one plays back quicker.
3. Tune Image Quality, Resolution, and Colors: Adjust "Image quality (%)" (defaults to 80), pick a preset under "Image resolution" or keep the original, and use "Colors" to reduce the palette with dithering if you need a smaller file.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert, then download your APNG. Files upload over an encrypted connection, are processed on our servers, and are deleted automatically after a few hours.

ICO vs APNG at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I turn several ICO files into one animated APNG?

Upload the icons in the order you want them to play, then convert. Each .ico becomes one frame of the output APNG, and the "FRAMERATE" setting decides how long each frame stays on screen. If you upload a single ICO, you get a valid one-frame APNG rather than an animation.

Does the APNG keep the transparency from my ICO?

Yes. ICO icons store per-pixel alpha (in their BMP entries), and APNG carries a full alpha channel on every frame, so soft edges and partial transparency survive the conversion. In our testing, a 256×256 ICO with anti-aliased edges produced an APNG whose edges stayed clean against both light and dark backgrounds — no white halo or hard matte.

My ICO holds several sizes — which one ends up in the APNG?

A multi-size ICO is a container of icon entries at different resolutions. The converter reads the icon and renders it at the resolution you choose in the "Image resolution" options (or the source size if you keep the original), so the output frame matches that target rather than every embedded size at once. Set a preset or a Width × Height if you need an exact pixel size.

Will an animated APNG favicon actually animate in browsers?

In the tab itself, animated favicons are only honored by Firefox today; Chrome, Edge, and Safari display the first frame as a static icon. APNG images embedded in a page, however, animate in roughly 94.7% of browsers (Chrome 59+, Edge 79+, Firefox, Safari 8+, Opera 46+), with non-supporting browsers falling back to the first frame. So an APNG favicon is safe — it just won't move outside Firefox.

Is APNG better than GIF for this?

For icons, usually yes. GIF caps each frame at 256 colors with on/off (1-bit) transparency, which produces jagged edges and dithering banding. APNG supports 24-bit color and full 8-bit alpha, so gradients and anti-aliased icon edges stay smooth. The tradeoff is a slightly larger file and marginally narrower browser support than GIF. If you specifically need GIF, you can convert ICO to GIF instead, or take an existing animation and convert GIF to APNG.