Favicon Checker
About the Favicon Checker
The Favicon Checker locates the favicon for a website by inspecting the page's HTML for icon link tags and falling back to the conventional /favicon.ico location at the domain root. It surfaces the icons a site declares, including classic favicon.ico references, modern PNG icons in various sizes, Apple touch icons, and any web app manifest icons. This gives you a quick view of whether a brand's tab and bookmark icon is set up correctly across browsers and devices.
The tool works by reading the rel=icon, rel=shortcut icon, and rel=apple-touch-icon link elements in the document head, then resolving them to absolute URLs and probing the default favicon path. Because browsers, search results, and bookmark bars each look for icons in slightly different ways, the checker helps confirm that the right files exist at the right paths and sizes. Missing or mis-sized icons commonly result in a blank or generic placeholder in the browser tab.
Common use cases include verifying a favicon after a site redesign, confirming that high-resolution and Apple touch icons are present for mobile home-screen bookmarks, and checking a competitor's icon setup. It is also handy when a favicon appears to be cached incorrectly, since seeing the declared paths helps you decide whether the issue is the markup or aggressive browser caching.
A practical tip: provide multiple sizes (at minimum a 32x32 and a 180x180 Apple touch icon) plus an ICO file for legacy support, and reference them explicitly in the head rather than relying solely on the root /favicon.ico. Modern setups increasingly use an SVG favicon for crisp scaling, and a web app manifest for installable PWA icons. If a new favicon does not appear, browser caching is the usual culprit, so test in a private window.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does a browser look for a favicon if none is declared?
- It defaults to /favicon.ico at the domain root. The checker probes that location even when no explicit icon link tag is present in the HTML.
- What favicon sizes should a modern site provide?
- At a minimum a 32x32 favicon, a 180x180 Apple touch icon for iOS home screens, and ideally an SVG icon for scalability plus a 192x192 and 512x512 for the web app manifest.
- Why is my new favicon not showing up in the browser?
- Favicons are cached aggressively. Try a hard refresh, a private/incognito window, or clearing the site data. The checker can confirm the correct file is being served even when your tab still shows the old one.
- Is an .ico file still necessary?
- It is no longer strictly required for modern browsers, which prefer PNG and SVG icons, but including a favicon.ico provides the broadest fallback for older browsers and tools.
Extract meta tags from HTML
Check if images are optimized
Check robots.txt file
Parse XML sitemaps and sitemap index files
Check for broken links on a page
Preview title, URL, and meta description in a Google-style snippet