Favicon checker

Enter your homepage to find every favicon your site declares, check that each one loads, and see whether it meets Google's rules for the icon shown next to your search results.

Free, no signup. Checks one page.

What this tool checks

  • Every icon declared with rel="icon", "shortcut icon", apple-touch-icon and mask-icon, plus the web app manifest
  • /favicon.ico at the root, which browsers request even when it isn't declared
  • Downloads each icon: status, format, file size and dimensions (every size inside .ico files)
  • Google's rules: square, a supported format (PNG, ICO, GIF, JPEG…; SVG isn't listed), larger than 48×48 recommended
  • robots.txt rules that stop Googlebot-Image from fetching the icon
  • A missing apple-touch-icon for iPhone and iPad home screens

How Google picks the favicon for search results

Google shows a small icon next to each result. It takes it from the <link rel="icon"> (or "shortcut icon" or apple-touch-icon) tag on your homepage, one per hostname, and fetches the file with Googlebot-Image. If it can't find or fetch a suitable icon, it shows a generic globe.

Google's guidelines ask for a square icon, at least 8×8 pixels but preferably larger than 48×48, in a format it supports: BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM or TIFF. SVG isn't on that list, so a site with only an SVG favicon looks fine in browsers but may get the globe in search. Add a PNG next to it.

Changes take time: Google recrawls favicons on its own schedule, often days to weeks. Keep the icon at a stable URL, and don't block it in robots.txt.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my favicon not showing in Google?

Usually one of these: it's not declared on the homepage, it isn't square, it's only available as SVG, robots.txt blocks it, or Google hasn't recrawled yet. This checker tests the first four. If everything passes, wait a few weeks or request indexing of the homepage in Search Console.

What size should a favicon be?

For Google, square and larger than 48×48 (for example 96×96 or 144×144). For browsers, a 32×32 or 48×48 icon covers tabs, and an SVG scales to any size. Add a 180×180 apple-touch-icon for iPhones. One multi-size favicon.ico plus a PNG and an SVG covers everything.

Does Google support SVG favicons?

Google's favicon guidelines list BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM and TIFF, and don't include SVG. Browsers support SVG favicons well, so keep yours, but add a PNG or ICO version for search results.

Do I need a favicon.ico file?

Not strictly, if you declare another icon with <link rel="icon">. But browsers, RSS readers and other tools request /favicon.ico directly, so it's worth having one there instead of a 404 or an HTML page.

How do I add a favicon to my site?

Upload the icon files and add tags in the <head> of every page: <link rel="icon" href="/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96">, optionally <link rel="icon" href="/favicon.svg" type="image/svg+xml">, and <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png">. On WordPress, use Appearance → Customize → Site Identity → Site Icon.

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