Favicon · Reference

Favicon size guide: every size you actually need

Quick answer: the standard favicon size is 32×32 pixels for browser tabs. Most sites also need a 16×16 fallback, a 180×180 Apple touch icon, and 192×192 / 512×512 versions for Android and PWAs. The full breakdown is below.

Favicon size requirements grew piecemeal over about 25 years, as each new platform added its own preference. The result is a confusing spread of numbers. Here's what each one is actually for, so you know which ones matter for your site.

Every favicon size at a glance

Size	Used for
16×16	The original browser tab size. Still used as a minimum fallback by some browsers.
32×32	The standard size on modern, higher-density (retina) screens — the default tab icon in most browsers today.
48×48	Windows taskbar icons, and roughly the minimum size Google recommends for showing your favicon in search results.
180×180	The Apple touch icon, used when a page is added to an iOS home screen.
192×192	The standard Android Chrome home screen icon, declared through a web app manifest.
512×512	Progressive Web App splash screens and app store-style listings; also a safe master size to design at.

What you actually need to ship

You don't need to hand-craft all six sizes individually. A practical minimum setup covers three cases:

A 32×32 (and optionally 16×16) PNG for browser tabs, plus a favicon.ico as a fallback for older crawlers
A 180×180 PNG for the Apple touch icon
192×192 and 512×512 PNGs referenced in a site.webmanifest for Android and PWA support

Design at 512×512 or, better, as an SVG, then export the rest down from that single source. Scaling down from a large, simple design holds up far better than trying to scale a detailed logo up from something tiny.

ICO vs PNG

A .ico file can bundle multiple sizes into one file and remains the most broadly compatible format, including with older tools that only look for /favicon.ico in your site's root by default. PNG favicons, declared explicitly with <link> tags, are what modern browsers actually prefer to render. The safest setup includes both: a root favicon.ico as a fallback, and PNG <link> tags for everything else.

Quick answers

What is the standard favicon size?
32×32 pixels is the size most modern browsers use by default for tab icons, though a 16×16 version is still worth including as a fallback.

What size should favicon.ico be?
A favicon.ico file can bundle multiple sizes in one file, but if you're only including one, 32×32 covers the most common case.

What size is an Apple touch icon?
180×180 pixels, square, with no transparency — iOS fills transparent areas with a flat color.

See exactly which of these sizes your site is missing.

Check your favicon