How to use it
- Drop in an .icns file. On a Mac, you can find app icons inside the app bundle under Contents/Resources.
- Each size inside is extracted as its own PNG.
- Download them as a zip, or just the size you need.
Getting an app icon for a document or slide
Every Mac app keeps its icon as an .icns file inside its bundle. Right-click the app, choose Show Package Contents, and look in Contents/Resources. Dropping that file here gives you PNGs at every size it contains, typically up to 1024 pixels, which is perfect for documentation, presentations and product comparisons.
What can be read
Modern icons store their images as PNG, and some older ones use JPEG 2000; both are extracted. Very old icons from the classic Mac OS era use a packed bitmap format that is not supported here, and those are rare now.
Several entries in an ICNS can share a pixel size, since Retina variants of one size match the plain version of the next size up. Duplicates are skipped, so you get one PNG per size.
ICNS and PNG compared
| ICNS | PNG | |
|---|---|---|
| First released | 1998 | 1996 |
| Compression | Holds PNG or JPEG 2000 images | Lossless |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes, including soft edges |
| Animation or pages | Many sizes in one file | Only as APNG, rarely used |
| Best for | macOS app icons | Screenshots, graphics, text and transparency |
| Support | macOS and icon tools | Universal |
Questions people ask
Can I open ICNS files on Windows?
Yes. This tool extracts them in the browser on any operating system.
Why are some sizes missing?
The icon may not contain them, or they may use an old packed format.
Is transparency kept?
Yes.