Favicon · WordPress

Favicon not showing on WordPress? Start here

WordPress handles favicons through its own "Site Icon" setting, which quietly outputs the right tags for you. When it doesn't show up, the cause is almost never a missing line of code — it's usually caching, a plugin conflict, or the setting itself.

Check the setting first

Go to Appearance → Customize → Site Identity (or Settings → General on some setups) and confirm a Site Icon is actually uploaded. WordPress recommends at least 512×512px, and it will generate the smaller sizes for you from that image.

Most likely causes, in order

Caching. This is the single most common cause. A page caching plugin, your host's server-level cache, and any CDN in front of the site can all serve an old cached version of the icon or of the page's <head> tags. Clear all three layers, not just the WordPress plugin cache.
Browser-level caching. Browsers cache favicons aggressively and separately from the page itself. Test in a private/incognito window before assuming the server is still wrong.
A theme or plugin overriding it. Some themes hardcode their own favicon tags, or an SEO plugin sets its own site icon separately, which can silently take priority.
Security or firewall plugins. Occasionally a security plugin blocks direct access to /favicon.ico as part of hardening the site, which breaks the fallback icon even if the Site Icon setting is correct.
Multisite subdirectory setups. On a subdirectory multisite install, sub-sites can inherit the main site's icon rather than their own, depending on how the network is configured.

A reliable way to force a refresh

If you've fixed the setting but the old icon still shows, re-uploading the exact same filename often isn't enough because of caching. Uploading it as a new filename (WordPress will do this automatically for a new media upload) and clearing every cache layer afterwards is the most reliable fix.

Check what your WordPress site is actually serving right now.

Check your favicon