How to Add a Favicon to Your Site

What this means

A favicon is the small icon that appears in a browser tab beside your page's title. Google also shows it next to your site's name in search results on phones and, increasingly, on computers. A site audit flags sites whose home page has no favicon.

Why it matters

Without a favicon, browsers show a blank page icon, and Google shows a plain globe. It's a small thing, but it makes a site look unfinished, and in search results a recognisable icon helps people spot your site among the others.

It also helps visitors who keep many tabs open find yours again.

What makes a good favicon

• Square. Google asks for a square image of at least 48 by 48 pixels. Uploading 512 by 512 gives every device a sharp version.
• Simple. At 16 pixels across, a full logo with words becomes a smudge. Use your logo's symbol, or your initial on a solid colour.
• High contrast, so it reads on both light and dark browser themes.
• PNG or SVG, usually. ICO files also work.

How to add one

On WordPress

Go to Appearance, then Customise, then Site Identity, and upload an image under "Site Icon". WordPress makes the sizes it needs. If your theme uses the newer site editor, the setting is in the Site Logo block or the theme's settings instead.

On Shopify

Go to Online Store, then Themes, then Customise. Open Theme settings, then Logo or Favicon (the name depends on your theme), and upload your image.

On Wix

Open the site's Settings, choose Favicon, and upload an image. Favicons need a premium plan and a connected domain on Wix; on free plans Wix shows its own icon.

On Squarespace

Go to Website, then Pages, then Website Tools, then Logo and Title, and upload a browser icon (Squarespace may call it "favicon"). The menu names differ slightly between Squarespace versions.

On a hand-built site

Upload the image to your site and add this line inside the head section of every page, changing the file name to yours:

<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.png" type="image/png">

Checking your fix

Open your site in a new tab and look at the tab. Browsers cache favicons for a long time, so if you don't see the new one, try a private window.

Google updates the icon in search results when it next crawls your home page, which can take a few days or weeks.

If you use Duality, the favicon is checked on your home page as a site-wide fact, so the next monthly audit confirms it.