Convert ICO to PNG
Convert ICO images to PNG free, in your browser.
Change the format. Drop an image, a PDF or a Word document.
- JPG · PNG · WebP · Text · Word
- Word
- PDF · Text
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An ICO is a Windows icon, and it is unusual among image formats in that one file holds several pictures. A favicon typically contains 16, 32 and 48 pixel versions of the same design so that Windows and browsers can each take the size they need without scaling anything.
Converting to PNG gives you one of them as an ordinary image, which is what you want when you are redesigning an icon, extracting one from an old program, or feeding a favicon into a tool that only accepts PNG. Modern browsers take a PNG favicon happily, so going in this direction is often part of retiring the ICO altogether.
Expect the result to be small, because the source is. Icons are tiny by design, and no conversion invents detail: a 32 pixel ICO becomes a 32 pixel PNG, and enlarging that to 512 for an app store gives you a soft, blocky picture. If you need a large icon, it has to be redrawn from whatever vector artwork the original came from.
How to convert ICO to PNG
- Drop your ICO files onto the box above, or paste them with Ctrl+V.
- Save each file from its tile, or take them all at once.
ICO and PNG side by side
| ICO | PNG | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it came from | 1985, as the Windows icon format | 1996, designed as a free replacement for GIF |
| Throws detail away | No, every pixel is kept | No, every pixel is kept |
| Transparency | Yes | Yes |
| Where it opens | Windows and every browser, for favicons | Everywhere, without exception, since the late nineties |
| Best at | Favicons and Windows application icons, holding several sizes in one file | Screenshots, logos, diagrams and anything with text or hard edges in it |
More on choosing between JPG, PNG, WebP and AVIF.
Questions about ICO to PNG
Which size comes out, if the ICO has several?
The largest one in the file. An ICO is a small archive of images at different sizes, and browsers pick whichever they need; here the biggest is taken, since that is the one with the most detail and the one you would want to work from. If the icon you actually need is a smaller variant, convert and then resize down, which looks better than scaling a small image up.
Can I go the other way and make an ICO?
Not yet. Writing an ICO means packing several sizes into one container with a particular header, which is a different job from converting a picture, and doing it properly means letting you choose which sizes go in. It is on the list. In the meantime, every current browser accepts a PNG favicon declared in the page, and only quite old versions of Internet Explorer genuinely required the ICO.
Does the transparency survive?
Yes. Modern ICO files store 32-bit images with a full alpha channel, and PNG stores exactly the same thing, so a rounded icon keeps its smooth transparent corners. Very old ICOs use a one-bit mask instead, transparent or not with nothing in between, and those come across with the hard jagged edge they always had. The format cannot smooth it retrospectively; that would mean guessing at pixels that were never there.
Why is the PNG so small?
Because icons are small. A 32 by 32 image is a thousand pixels, and a PNG of it is often under a kilobyte. That is correct and nothing has gone wrong. The mistake to avoid is enlarging it to fill a space that wants 512 pixels: no conversion recovers detail that was never captured, and the result will be visibly blocky. Redraw from the original artwork if you need a large version.