Favicon not showing? 8 common causes and fixes

You uploaded a favicon but the browser still shows the old icon, or none at all. Start by running your site through the favicon checker, which finds most of these problems in seconds. Then work through this list.

1. The browser is showing a cached icon

Browsers keep favicons for a long time. Open your site in a private or incognito window. If the new icon appears there, your site is fine and only your normal browser is out of date. Clearing the browser cache or visiting /favicon.ico directly and refreshing usually updates it.

To force every visitor to get the new file, change the link, for example href="/favicon.ico?v=2".

2. The path is relative

href="favicon.ico" only works on pages in the root folder. Use href="/favicon.ico" with a leading slash so it works on every page. See how to add a favicon in HTML.

3. The file is in the wrong folder

The files must be in the root folder of your website (often public_html), not in a theme or images folder, unless your HTML points there.

4. The file returns an error (404)

Open https://yoursite.com/favicon.ico in your browser. If you see a "not found" page, the file isn’t where the HTML says it is.

5. The file isn’t a real icon

Renaming logo.png to favicon.ico doesn’t make it an ICO file, and some browsers reject it. Make a real one with the ICO generator.

6. Your CMS or plugin overrides it

WordPress, Shopify and other builders insert their own favicon tag. If you add HTML by hand as well, the platform’s setting often wins. Use the platform’s site icon setting instead:

• WordPress favicon
• Shopify favicon
• Squarespace favicon
• Webflow favicon

7. A CDN or cache plugin serves old files

If you use Cloudflare, Hostinger’s cache or a caching plugin, purge the cache after uploading new icons.

8. Google shows the old icon

Search results update separately from browsers and can take weeks. See how to show your favicon in Google Search.