How to use it
- Choose the sizes to include.
- Drop in the SVG.
- Download the .ico file.
Why SVG makes the best icons
Icons are shrunk a long way, often from hundreds of pixels to 16. Starting from a large raster image means a heavy downscale where thin lines blur and colours smear. Starting from an SVG, the shapes are rendered at high resolution and then reduced with careful resampling, giving clean edges at every size inside the file.
Design check at small sizes
Even a perfect render cannot rescue detail that is too fine for 16 pixels. Before converting, zoom your SVG out in a browser tab until it is roughly favicon-sized. If it turns to mush, simplify: drop taglines, thin outlines and small text, and consider using just the symbol from your logo.
Want the full favicon set?
Browsers and phones also look for PNG icons, an Apple touch icon and a web manifest. The favicon generator accepts SVG and produces all of them, including this ICO.
SVG and ICO compared
| SVG | ICO | |
|---|---|---|
| First released | 2001 | 1985 |
| Compression | Vector, stored as text | Holds PNG or BMP images |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes |
| Animation or pages | Animation via CSS | Several sizes in one file |
| Best for | Logos, icons and diagrams | Favicons and Windows icons |
| Support | Browsers and design tools | Browsers and Windows |
Questions people ask
Is a non-square SVG a problem?
It is centred on a transparent square, so nothing is stretched, but it may look small.
Does the ICO keep transparency?
Yes, fully.
Can I use the SVG as a favicon directly?
Modern browsers accept SVG favicons, but an ICO is still needed as a fallback.