ICO to PNG Converter

A Windows .ico file is a small container holding several copies of one icon at different sizes. Converting ICO to PNG pulls out the largest of them as an ordinary PNG with its transparency intact, so you can use the icon in a document, a slide or an image editor.

or drop JPG, JPEG, JPE … files here ·

Max 95 MB per file· Up to 20 files· Deleted after 30 minutes

Output

Convert to

Files are processed on our servers and deleted after 30 minutes.

How to use this tool

1
Upload the .ico files
Add a favicon.ico you saved from a website or icons from a Windows icon pack, up to 20 files at once.
2
Decide on the size
The PNG comes out at the largest size inside the icon. To get a fixed size instead, open Advanced settings and use Resize output image.
3
Convert and download
Press Convert to PNG and download the PNGs one by one or as a ZIP.

One .ico file usually holds several bitmaps of the same icon. Converting to PNG keeps the biggest one, with its transparent background, as a file any program can open.

What is inside a Windows .ico file

The ICO format exists so that Windows can draw the same icon crisply at very different sizes. Rather than shrinking one large picture on the fly, which blurs thin lines, the file stores separate images, often 16, 32, 48 and 256 px square, sometimes at several color depths. Explorer, the taskbar and the title bar each pick the entry that matches the space they have.

Each entry is limited to 256 × 256 px, because the original file header stores width and height in a single byte, with 0 standing for 256. Windows Vista added the option of storing that largest entry as a compressed PNG inside the ICO, which is why modern icon files are much smaller than their Windows XP counterparts.

Websites borrowed the format in 1999, when Internet Explorer 5 started looking for a file called favicon.ico at the root of a site to show next to bookmarks. Browsers still request it, so most sites keep one even though they also offer PNG and SVG icons.

Common icon sizes found in ICO files

1:1

16 × 16 px

Browser tab favicon

Smallest entry, often hand-tuned pixel by pixel

1:1

32 × 32 px

Taskbar and desktop shortcut

Also a common favicon size

1:1

48 × 48 px

Explorer medium icons

The default view in many folders

1:1

256 × 256 px

Large and extra large icons

The maximum an ICO entry can hold

ICO

Windows icon

ICO is the Microsoft icon format used for Windows program icons and website favicons. One .ico file can contain several images at different sizes, such as 16×16, 32×32, 48×48 and 256×256 pixels, so the system can pick the best fit. Each image can be stored as a bitmap or as PNG data and supports full alpha transparency. ICO is not meant for photos or large artwork. Browsers, Windows and most icon editors can read it.

Compression: Lossless
Transparency: Yes
Animation: No
Introduced: Microsoft

ICO converter

PNG

Portable Network Graphics

PNG is a lossless raster format published in 1996 by the PNG Development Group and later standardised by the W3C and ISO. It keeps every pixel exactly, supports full alpha transparency and handles text, sharp edges and flat colours without artefacts. That precision makes it ideal for screenshots, logos, icons and interface graphics. The trade-off is size: photographs saved as PNG are often several times larger than the same photo as JPEG or WebP. All browsers, operating systems and editors open PNG files.

Compression: Lossless
Transparency: Yes
Animation: No
Introduced: 1996 · PNG Development Group

PNG converter

People convert ICO to PNG to reuse an icon outside Windows or the browser tab, in a document, a slide or an editor that cannot open .ico; the opposite direction builds a favicon or app icon from artwork.

Convert ICO to PNG to reuse an icon anywhere

Most requests come from people who have only the .ico version of a logo: a favicon saved from a company website, an icon from an old installer or a Windows icon pack. Word, Google Slides, Canva, Figma and most image editors do not open .ico, but all of them accept PNG with transparency, so the icon drops onto a colored slide without a white box around it.

Check the pixel size of the result before you rely on it. If the PNG is 256 px, it works for slides, documentation and small print. If it is 32 px, use it at that size or smaller. When you have the artwork and need to go back the other way, PNG to ICO builds a multi-size icon again.

ICO to PNG questions

Which size does the PNG come out at?

The converter takes the largest image stored in the .ico file. For a modern Windows application icon that is usually 256 × 256 px; for many website favicons it is only 32 × 32 or 48 × 48 px, because that is all the file contains.

Does the ICO to PNG conversion keep transparency?

Yes. Icons with an alpha channel come out as PNG with the same soft, see-through edges. Older 4-bit and 8-bit icons use a separate one-bit mask instead, and that mask becomes fully transparent pixels in the PNG.

Can I get every size out of one .ico file?

This converter writes one PNG per icon, taken from the largest image. If you need a 16 px version as well, set Resize output image to 16 px wide and convert the file a second time; scaling down from 256 px gives a clean small icon.

Why does my converted favicon look blurry when I enlarge it?

Because the favicon only contained a small image. Enlarging a 32 × 32 px picture to 512 px has to invent pixels, which softens every edge. Look for a larger source, such as the site's apple-touch-icon at 180 × 180 px, or redraw it with ICO to SVG as a starting point.

What is the difference between ICO and ICNS?

ICO is the Windows icon container; ICNS is the macOS equivalent and holds sizes up to 1024 × 1024 px. If your icon came from a Mac application bundle, use ICNS to PNG instead.