Image to ICO Converter

Convert Image to ICO Online

ICO is Microsoft's icon format — a small container that Windows and web browsers read for the little picture next to a program, a shortcut, or a browser tab. It has been part of Windows since version 1.0 in 1985, and it is still the file every browser silently requests as /favicon.ico when it loads a site.

Convert a PNG, JPG, SVG-rendered raster, WebP, or any other image here and you get a single-size .ico at the pixel dimension you choose, up to the format's hard ceiling of 256 × 256.

How to Convert an Image to ICO

1. Upload Your Image File: Drag and drop, or click "Add Files". The converter accepts 36 image types — PNG, JPG, JPEG, JFIF, GIF, APNG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, HEIF, TIFF, TIF, BMP, ICO, PSD, EPS, PPM, XCF, PUB, ODG, and RAW camera files. A batch converts with one shared size setting.
2. Pick the Icon Size: ICO targets show one Advanced Options group, Image resolution, fixed to Preset Resolutions. The Preset dropdown starts on 256P and offers 256P, 192P, 180P, 128P, 64P, 48P, 32P, 24P, and 16P. Larger presets are not offered because ICO cannot store a dimension above 256 pixels.
3. Square Your Artwork First (Optional): The converter scales to fit the preset and keeps your aspect ratio — it never crops or pads to a square. A rectangular photo therefore produces a rectangular icon. If you want a proper square icon, trim the source with the image cropper before converting.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and download the .ico, or take a batch as a ZIP. Files upload over an encrypted connection, are processed on our servers, and are deleted automatically after a few hours. No sign-up, no watermark.

Which Icon Size to Pick

For a website favicon, 32 × 32 is the pragmatic single choice today: it is what high-DPI browser tabs draw, and browsers downscale it cleanly to 16 pixels when they need to. If you are building a full web app icon set, the 180P and 192P entries above are the right dimensions but the wrong container — those platforms expect PNG files referenced from your HTML or manifest, so convert those two with Image to PNG instead.

ICO vs PNG and SVG for Icons

Going the other way — pulling artwork back out of an icon so you can edit it — ICO to PNG rasterises an existing .ico into an editable image.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I choose a size larger than 256 pixels?

Because the format cannot describe one. An ICO file begins with a directory that stores each image's width and height in a single byte each, and the value 0 is reserved to mean 256. That caps any entry at 256 × 256, and it is a limit of the container rather than of this converter — every ICO tool has the same ceiling. If you need a large square icon, use PNG.

My icon came out rectangular instead of square. Why?

Because the converter scales your image to fit the preset while preserving its aspect ratio; it never crops the sides off or pads the gaps with a background. A 3:2 photograph therefore produces a 3:2 icon rather than a square one. That is the safe default — silently cropping someone's artwork is worse than handing back an honest rectangle — but it means you should square the source yourself first. Run it through the image cropper, pick a 1:1 selection, then convert the square result.

Does the icon keep the transparency from my PNG?

Yes. Modern ICO entries carry a full 8-bit alpha channel, and this conversion does not flatten or matte the image onto a background, so a PNG with clean transparency arrives as an icon with clean transparency. That matters most at small sizes, where a stray white box behind a round logo is very visible against a dark browser theme. If your source is a JPG, though, there is no transparency to preserve — JPEG has no alpha channel at all — so start from a PNG or WebP if you need a see-through background.

Can I get one .ico containing 16, 32, and 48 pixel versions?

Not from this page — each conversion writes a single-size icon at the preset you chose. The format itself does support bundling several sizes into one file, and that used to be standard practice for Windows application icons. For a website you rarely need it: browsers have handled a single well-made 32 × 32 favicon for years, and any additional sizes are usually supplied as separate PNG files in your HTML head.

What size should a favicon be in 2026?

32 × 32 as the single .ico, and PNGs for everything else. Browser tabs on high-DPI displays draw a 32-pixel icon, and they downscale it to 16 for standard-density screens without visible damage — whereas a 16-pixel icon upscaled to 32 looks obviously soft. Beyond the tab icon, modern sites add a 180 × 180 PNG for iOS home screens and a 192 × 192 PNG for Android, both referenced explicitly in the page markup or web app manifest.

Will a 256-pixel favicon slow my site down?

Marginally, and mostly for no benefit. A 256 × 256 icon with alpha is several times the byte weight of a 32 × 32 one, and browsers immediately scale it down to a few dozen pixels for the tab. Save the 256P preset for Windows shortcut and application icons, where the large size is genuinely displayed in Explorer's extra-large view.

What happens if I upload an animated GIF or APNG?

You get a single still icon made from the first frame. ICO has no notion of animation or frame timing, so there is nothing to carry the other frames into. If you wanted an animated version of the artwork for somewhere else, convert the same source to APNG instead, which keeps every frame.

Why is there no quality or file-size setting on this page?

Because there is nothing sensible for one to control. ICO output at these dimensions is already tiny — a 32 × 32 icon is a few kilobytes — and the format has no JPEG-style quality dial to turn. Size is decided entirely by the pixel dimensions you choose, which is why the preset list is the only control the page shows.

Are my uploaded images kept after conversion?

No. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — never shared, never made public, and never watermarked. There is no sign-up required to convert or download.