Images

The ICO format

A container that holds the same icon in several sizes, from 16 to 256 pixels: Windows and browsers pick the one that best fits the available space. It’s still the most compatible format for a website’s favicon.

Drop your files hereor (ICO and over 40 other formats). You can also paste an image.No upload: everything happens on your device

Fact sheet

ICO

ICO (Windows icon)

Best for: Website favicons, icons for programs and shortcuts on Windows.
Limits: It can’t go beyond 256 × 256 pixels and is only useful for icons.
Compression: embedded PNG or bitmaps
Transparency: Yes
Animation: No
Extensions: .ico
MIME type: image/x-icon

Convert ICO to…

Convert to ICO from…

Tools for ICO files

Questions about the ICO format

How do I open a ICO file?

Usually a double click is enough: operating systems and the most common programs recognise it. If the program or website you use won’t accept it, you can convert it here to a more common format, for example JPG.

What extension do ICO files have?

.ico. The MIME type is image/x-icon.

Does converting a ICO lose quality?

It depends on the target format: to lossless formats (PNG, FLAC, WAV) nothing is lost; to compressed formats (JPG, MP3, MP4) you can choose the quality to balance size and result.