Every favicon size you actually need in 2026

The real list of favicon sizes modern browsers and operating systems request today. Five files cover every device. The rest is cargo cult.

The favicon spec accumulated bloat across fifteen years. Every operating system added its own size, the format wars happened, and sites ended up shipping fifteen files when five would do. This guide is the current, de-bloated list.

The modern set, five files

File	Size	Used by
`favicon.svg`	vector	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera (modern)
`favicon.ico`	16, 32, 48 multi-res	Legacy browsers, crawlers, the `/favicon.ico` fallback
`favicon-96x96.png`	96×96	Older tab strips, Android legacy
`apple-touch-icon.png`	180×180	iOS home screen, Safari pinned tabs
`web-app-manifest-192x192.png` + `web-app-manifest-512x512.png`	192, 512	Android home screen, Chrome PWA install, splash screen

Plus site.webmanifest to tell the browser what the PWA icons are for. That is the entire set.

What you can safely skip

Older favicon checklists and generators ship files that no current device reads:

16×16 PNG — use the SVG or let the browser downscale the 96×96
32×32 PNG — same as above
48×48 PNG — same
57, 60, 72, 76, 114, 120, 144, 152 pixel Apple icons — consolidated to 180×180
70×70, 150×150, 310×150, 310×310 Windows tile icons — Microsoft retired browserconfig.xml
mstile-*.png — retired with browserconfig
safari-pinned-tab.svg — replaced by standard SVG favicon

If your current setup has any of these, you can delete them. Nothing today requests them.

Why the numbers above and not others

96×96 PNG: smallest PNG that still looks acceptable when an older browser upscales it for a Retina tab strip. Keeps the set minimal.
180×180 Apple: Apple’s current universal size for iPhone and iPad home screens. Apple handles rounding and masking; your PNG should be square with no pre-rounded corners.
192 + 512 PWA: the two sizes the Android manifest spec requires. 192 is the home screen icon, 512 is the splash screen and install prompt hero.
Multi-res ICO at 16/32/48: the three sizes Windows historically requested from /favicon.ico. Omit 64 and higher; the ICO file is only a fallback.

The HTML

<link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="/favicon.svg" />
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="96x96" href="/favicon-96x96.png" />
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" />
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/apple-touch-icon.png" />
<link rel="manifest" href="/site.webmanifest" />

Five <link> tags. Done.

Testing the set

Chrome DevTools → Application → Manifest shows which icons Chrome picked up. Safari’s Web Inspector shows the apple-touch-icon it is using. Lighthouse’s PWA audit flags missing manifest icons. If all three are clean, your favicon set is complete.

Or drop an SVG into Faviconry and download a zip with exactly these five files plus the manifest.

Framework-specific setup

Where these files go and how they get linked differs per framework:

Next.js — App Router file-based metadata
Astro — /public folder + BaseLayout
SvelteKit — /static folder + app.html
React (Vite / CRA) — /public folder + index.html
Vue / Nuxt — /public folder + app.head config

Frequently asked questions

Do I still need a 16x16 and 32x32 PNG?

No. An SVG favicon scales to both sizes perfectly. The PNG fallback only needs to exist for browsers that cannot read SVG favicons, and a single 96x96 PNG covers that case while looking acceptable in older tab strips.

What about 57, 72, 114, 144 pixel Apple icons?

Deprecated. Apple consolidated all iOS favicons to a single 180x180 PNG years ago. Shipping the older sizes adds HTTP requests for platforms Apple itself no longer supports.

Is 512x512 enough for a PWA icon?

Yes, paired with a 192x192. Android uses 192 for the home screen and 512 for the splash screen and install prompt. A single 512x512 maskable variant covers the adaptive icon system.