Favicon Checker
Audit any website's favicons, app icons and web manifest in one scan
Paste a URL and instantly see which icons a site declares, whether the sizes and formats are correct, and how they render in browser tabs, on iOS and Android home screens, in installed PWAs and on Windows tiles.
Favicon report
What this favicon checker inspects
One scan covers the three layers of modern site icons — from the classic favicon to full installable-app assets.
Core favicons
We look for a root /favicon.ico, explicit link rel="icon" tags with their declared sizes and formats, the apple-touch-icon used by iOS, and Safari's optional pinned-tab mask-icon. These are the assets that decide whether your site shows a crisp icon in browser tabs, bookmarks, history and reading lists.
PWA & web manifest
If your site links a web app manifest, we parse it and confirm the icons that installable apps actually need: a 192×192 icon, a 512×512 icon, and at least one maskable icon with a safe purpose. We also read the manifest theme and background colors so you can verify your install experience is complete.
Other platforms
We check the theme-color meta tag that tints browser chrome and the Android address bar, plus the msapplication-TileImage used for Windows Start-menu tiles. These smaller details round out how your brand appears across the operating systems your visitors use.
How to check a website's favicon
Get a full icon audit in under a minute — no signup, no upload.
Paste a URL
Enter any public website address, including the https:// prefix, into the field above.
Run the scan
We fetch the page's HTML and, if present, its web manifest, then detect every declared icon and meta tag.
Review the report
See a pass, warn or fail for each check, grouped into core favicons, PWA manifest and other platforms.
Preview and fix
Preview how the icons render across devices, then jump to our generator to create anything that's missing.
Why use this favicon checker
A focused, privacy-friendly audit that goes beyond a single tab-icon preview.
Instant, no-signup audit
Paste a URL and get a full pass/warn/fail report in seconds. There's no account, no upload and no queue.
Every platform in one view
Browser tabs, iOS Home Screen, Android launchers, installed PWAs and Windows tiles are all covered by a single scan.
Reads the web manifest
We parse manifest.json to verify the 192px, 512px and maskable icons that installable apps genuinely require.
Realistic previews
See the actual detected icons rendered inside browser-tab, home-screen and tile mock-ups instead of guessing.
Clear, actionable hints
Every failing check comes with a plain-English explanation of what it means and how to resolve it.
Privacy-friendly
We fetch the page live to run the check and never store, log or share the URLs you enter.
When to use a favicon checker
Run a self-audit before launch. Right before you ship a new site or redesign, a favicon check confirms that the tab icon, apple-touch-icon and manifest icons are all in place — so the very first person who bookmarks or installs your site sees a polished brand mark instead of a blank globe.
Audit a client or competitor site. Agencies and freelancers can paste any public URL to produce a quick, credible report of what icon assets exist and what's missing, which is an easy value-add during a site review or technical SEO audit.
Debug why a favicon won't show. When an icon refuses to appear, this checker separates the two usual causes: the icon was never declared correctly, or it's declared but blocked by caching. Seeing the exact tags a browser receives tells you which problem you're actually chasing.
Add it to your pre-deploy routine. Because the check runs from a single URL and returns a clear pass/fail summary, it's a lightweight step you can run against staging before every deploy to catch a regression where a build step drops your icon files.
Verify your work after generating icons. After you create a set with our Favicon Generator or PWA Icon Generator and deploy it, re-run the checker to confirm the tags resolve on the live domain and every platform now passes.
Favicon checker FAQ
Everything about testing favicons, app icons and the web manifest.
What does a favicon checker do?
A favicon checker fetches a website's live HTML and web manifest, then reports which icon assets the site declares and whether they're valid. This tool inspects the root favicon.ico, every link rel="icon" tag, the apple-touch-icon, Safari mask-icon, the PWA manifest icons and the Windows tile, then previews how each renders. It turns a hidden part of your markup into a clear pass, warn or fail checklist.
Why isn't my favicon showing up?
The two most common causes are a missing declaration and aggressive caching. Either the browser never received a valid link rel="icon" tag or /favicon.ico, or it did but is still showing a cached copy. Run the check to confirm the tags actually resolve on your live domain; if they pass here but not in your browser, it's almost certainly a caching issue rather than a markup problem.
How do I force a favicon to update?
Browsers cache favicons aggressively, sometimes for days. To force an update, deploy the new icon, then hard-refresh the page, clear the site's cached images, or append a version query string such as favicon.ico?v=2 to the icon URL. Visiting the favicon file directly in a new tab and reloading it also nudges most browsers to fetch the fresh version faster.
Why do browsers cache favicons so aggressively?
Favicons appear on almost every page load, so browsers store them for a long time to avoid repeated network requests and keep tabs rendering instantly. The side effect is that a changed icon can appear stale for a while. Versioned filenames or a query string on the icon URL are the most reliable way to signal that a genuinely new icon should replace the cached one.
What favicon sizes do I actually need?
At minimum ship a 16×16 and 32×32 icon, since those cover browser tabs and bookmarks; a 48×48 helps on Windows and higher-density displays. Beyond the classic favicon you'll want a 180×180 apple-touch-icon for iOS, plus 192×192 and 512×512 icons in your manifest for Android and installable PWAs. This checker flags whichever of these sizes are missing.
Should I use .ico, PNG or SVG for my favicon?
Use all three where they fit. A multi-resolution favicon.ico at the site root is the universal fallback every browser understands. PNG icons declared at 16, 32 and 48 pixels give crisp modern rendering, and a single SVG favicon scales perfectly on high-density screens and supports dark-mode variants. Modern browsers pick the SVG or PNG first and fall back to the .ico when needed.
What is apple-touch-icon and what size should it be?
apple-touch-icon is the image iOS and iPadOS use when someone adds your site to their Home Screen. Provide a 180×180 PNG with no transparency, since iOS applies its own rounded-corner mask and adds a background behind transparent pixels. If it's missing, Apple devices fall back to a low-quality screenshot of your page, which looks unprofessional next to native app icons.
What is a web app manifest and which icons does it need?
A web app manifest is a JSON file that makes your site installable, declaring its name, colors, display mode and icons. For a valid installable experience it must reference at least a 192×192 and a 512×512 icon, and ideally one maskable icon. This checker links to and parses your manifest, then confirms those required icon sizes and purposes are present.
What are maskable icons and why do they matter?
Maskable icons are manifest icons marked with purpose "maskable" so Android can crop them into its adaptive shapes — circle, squircle, rounded square — without clipping important detail. They need roughly 20% safe-area padding around the logo. Without one, Android often frames a shrunken icon inside a white circle, which looks unpolished compared with a properly designed maskable asset.
What does the theme-color meta tag do?
The theme-color meta tag tells the browser what color to tint its surrounding UI. On Android Chrome it colors the address bar, and in an installed PWA it tints the title bar to match your brand. It's a small touch that makes your site feel intentional and native. This checker reports whether the tag exists and reads the value it declares.
What is the Windows tile image?
The msapplication-TileImage meta tag defines the picture shown when a user pins your site to the Windows Start menu as a live tile. Together with msapplication-TileColor it controls that tile's appearance. It's optional and matters less than it once did, so this checker treats a missing tile image as a warning rather than a hard failure.
Is this favicon checker free, and do you store my URL?
Yes, the checker is completely free with no signup or usage limits. We fetch the page you enter only to run the check in real time, and we do not store, log or share the URLs you submit. Nothing about the sites you audit is retained after the report is generated, so you can safely check staging or client sites.
Does the checker scan subpages or just the URL I enter?
It checks the single URL you provide. Favicons and manifest links live in the head and are almost always declared site-wide, so the homepage is representative of the whole site in nearly every case. If a specific section uses different icons, paste that exact page's URL to audit it directly rather than relying on the homepage result.
What's the difference between a favicon and an app icon?
A favicon is the small icon a browser shows in tabs, bookmarks and history, traditionally 16–48 pixels. An app icon is the larger, launcher-quality image used when your site is installed to a phone home screen or desktop — the apple-touch-icon on iOS and the manifest icons on Android. A complete site needs both, which is exactly what this checker audits together.
Want to go deeper?
Favicon Optimization Across Browsers