Favicon not showing? Here's how to fix it
You added a favicon but the browser still shows a blank page icon, or an old icon. In almost every case it is one of these five causes.
Regenerate a clean favicon →Browsers cache favicons aggressively — sometimes for days. Force a reload with Ctrl+F5 (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac), or open your site in a private/incognito window. To verify the file itself, open https://your-site.com/favicon.ico directly.
The icon must be reachable. Either place it at the site root as /favicon.ico, or point to it explicitly:
<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="any"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/favicon-32x32.png">
Check for a leading slash and correct capitalization; web servers are case-sensitive.
Favicons must be square. A very wide or tall source gets cropped oddly or rejected. Start from a square 512×512 image with the subject centered.
An invalid or empty ICO/PNG will not render. Export a fresh file from a reliable generator and confirm it opens as an image. See ICO vs PNG for format guidance.
If your <head> contains several conflicting icon tags, the browser may pick an old one. Keep one clear set of tags and remove leftovers. Add a query string to bust the cache during testing: href="/favicon.ico?v=2".
Still not working after a deploy?
If you use a CDN or hosting platform (Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare), purge the cache and redeploy. Then test in a private window before assuming it failed.
Make a clean icon
Our freefavicon generator exports valid ICO and PNG icons in every size — no corrupt files. Related: How to add a favicon.
Open the generator →