What format does Google need for a favicon?

Google Search supports BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM and TIFF. Note that SVG is not on that list, so an SVG-only favicon is not eligible for the search result icon even though browsers will happily display it.

What size should the favicon be?

It must be square, with a minimum of 8x8 pixels, but Google recommends something larger than 48x48 so it stays sharp on different surfaces. A 48x48 or larger square PNG is a safe default.

Does the favicon have to be on the home page?

Google reads the favicon from a link tag in the head of your home page. A site is defined by its hostname, so you can set only one favicon per hostname, and a subdirectory cannot have its own.

Why does the old favicon keep showing?

Search caches favicons, and so do browsers. If the file or its URL is unchanged, expect a delay before the update appears. Changing the icon often means pointing at a new stable URL and waiting for the cache to refresh.

Why your favicon is not showing in Google search results

Q: How long until the favicon shows?

Google has to recrawl the home page, which can take several days to several weeks. Requesting indexing of the home page speeds up the recrawl, but the icon is still not guaranteed to appear.

A missing favicon in the results is a small thing that looks like a large one: Google shows a generic globe where your logo should be, and the result feels less trustworthy next to competitors. The cause is almost always one of a short list of requirements, and each of them can be checked in a minute.

What Google actually requires

A favicon is eligible for the search result only when every one of these is true.

Requirement	Detail
Format	BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM or TIFF — SVG is not on the list
Shape	Square, 1:1 aspect ratio
Size	At least 8x8px; larger than 48x48px is recommended
Location	Declared with a link tag in the head of the home page
Scope	One favicon per hostname; subdirectories cannot set their own
Crawlable	Googlebot must reach the home page; Googlebot-Image must fetch the icon
Stability	Keep the icon URL stable — do not move it per deploy

Miss one row and the globe comes back, even when the icon renders perfectly in a browser tab.

Declaring it correctly

The link tag belongs in the head of the home page. Cover the common surfaces with a small set of icons:

<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" sizes="48x48">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="96x96" href="/favicon-96.png">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png">

The href can be relative or absolute and does not have to be hosted on your own domain, but the URL should not change between deployments. Google reads rel="icon", rel="shortcut icon", rel="apple-touch-icon" and rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed".

Confirm Googlebot can reach it

The two most overlooked requirements are crawl access. Googlebot needs to crawl the home page, and Googlebot-Image needs to fetch the icon file. If either is blocked, the favicon cannot appear.

# 确认 favicon 没有被 robots.txt 屏蔽
curl -s https://example.com/robots.txt
curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}\n' https://example.com/favicon.ico

Look for a Disallow line that covers the icon path, and confirm the icon URL returns 200. The robots.txt tester resolves allow or disallow for the exact icon URL and user-agent, which is faster than reading the rules by eye.

The hostname rule trips people up

Google treats a site as a hostname. example.com and news.example.com are two sites and can have two different icons. But example.com/blog is a subdirectory of one site, and it cannot have its own favicon — the icon you set for the hostname applies to everything under it.

If you added the link tag only on an inner template whose host is a subdirectory, it is in the wrong place. Move it to the home page of the hostname.

Then wait

Once everything is correct, Google still has to recrawl the home page. That can take several days to several weeks. Requesting indexing of the home page in Search Console is the fastest way to prompt a recrawl.

Two caches stand between you and a visible change: Google’s, and the browser’s. If you replaced the file at the same URL, both may keep serving the old icon for a while. Pointing the link tag at a new stable URL is the reliable way to force a refresh.

And the honest caveat: even when every guideline is met, Google does not guarantee the favicon will be shown. Treat the icon as a strong signal, not a promise.

Common mistakes

Shipping an SVG-only favicon. Browsers show it, Google’s list does not include it. Provide a PNG or ICO as well.

Using a non-square image. A wide logo gets cropped or rejected. Export a square.

Only providing a 16x16. It is below the recommended size and looks soft. Ship something 48x48 or larger.

Declaring it on an inner page. The link tag must be on the home page of the hostname.

Blocking Googlebot-Image. A broad robots.txt rule can take the icon file with it.

Changing the URL every deploy. An unstable icon URL forces Google to re-learn the value each time.

Where this tool fits

The favicon checker inspects a live site for a complete icon set, the Apple touch icon and the web app manifest, so the missing piece is obvious. If you need a full set in the right sizes, the favicon generator exports every format and the matching link tags in one download.