Do you want to learn how to add a favicon in WordPress?
Favicon or Site Icon is the tiny image that appear next to your website title in the browser. It helps your users identify your website and more frequent visitors of your site will build an instant recognition for that tiny image.
This increases your brand recognition and helps you build trust among your audiences. In our article about most common WordPress mistakes, not adding a favicon was among the top 25.
In this article, we will show you how to add a favicon to your WordPress blog.
Why you should Add a Favicon to Your WordPress Site?
As we mentioned earlier that it establishes your website’s identity. However, it also improves your site’s usability and user experience. This image will help you understand it better:
Most users usually have many tabs open in their browser window. This hides your website’s title as the number of tabs increase. The favicon helps user identify your website and quickly switch to the tab they want.
You can ask your users to add your site to their homescreen on mobile devices. Your site icon or favicon is also used when a user adds your site to their homescreen on a mobile device.
How to Create a Favicon
You can use your brand’s logo as your site icon or favicon. The recommended size for your site icon image is at least 512 pixels in both width and height. The site icon image should be a square, you can use a larger rectangular image and WordPress will allow you to crop the image when you add it.
We recommend using an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop or Gimp to create a site icon of exactly 512×512 pixels. This way you can maintain exact proportions for your image. You can use transparent image or fill the image with a background color of your choice. This image could be in png, jpeg, or gif format.
Video Tutorial
If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.
Adding Your Site Icon or Favicon in WordPress
Since WordPress 4.3, you can add a favicon or site icon from WordPress admin area. Simply go to Appearance » Customize and click on the ‘Site Identity’ tab.
The site identity section in the WordPress theme customizer allows you to change the site title, description, and control whether or not you want to display them in the header.
It also allows you to upload your site icon. Simply click on the select file button and then upload the image you want to use as site icon.
If the image you are uploading exceeds recommended size, then WordPress will allow you to crop it. If it matches the recommended size exactly, then you can just save your changes.
That’s all you can now preview your site and see your favicon in action. You can also visit your site on a mobile device and then from the browser menu select “Add to homescreen’. You will notice that your site icon will appear on the homescreen.
Pro Tip: if you’re trying to customize the SEO title that shows up next to the favicon, then you will need the free All in One SEO plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install and set up AIOSEO.
Adding Favicon to Older WordPress (4.2 or below)
If you’re using an older version of WordPress or want to learn how to upload your favicon manually, then this step is for you.
First, you need add the favicon file to your website’s root directory using FTP or your WordPress hosting file manager.
After that you can simply paste this code into your theme’s header.php file.
<link rel="icon" href="https://www.wpbeginner.com/favicon.png" type="image/x-icon" />
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://www.wpbeginner.com/favicon.png" type="image/x-icon" />
Make sure to replace wpbeginner.com with your site’s URL, and you are good to go.
If your theme does not have a header.php file, or you cannot find it, then don’t worry, we have a plugin for you. Simply install and activate the free Insert Headers and Footers plugin.
After activating the plugin go to Settings » Insert Headers and Footers and paste the code provided above in the header section to save your settings.
If you don’t want to deal with FTP at all, then you can also use the plugin called All in One Favicon.
We hope that this article helped you add favicon to your WordPress site. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress SEO guide to improve your rankings or see our expert pick of the must have WordPress plugins to grow your website.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Alex Perry says
Thanks, after 2 hours of searching I finally found it. How to change the site icon…
WPBeginner Support says
Glad our guide allowed you to add it instead of needing to search further
Admin
Ben says
I think this needs an update. I tried this and there’s no “Site Identity” tab under Appearance > Customize
WPBeginner Support says
Your specific theme may have a custom editor or if you are using the block editor you could add the site logo block, set an image, and in the block’s settings have that set as the site’s favicon.
Admin
FAIZ says
what a great guide, really it’s very helpful
WPBeginner Support says
Happy to hear our guide was helpful
Admin
Max Anderson says
What does the WPBeginner favicon represent?
WPBeginner Support says
Our blob is a simple design of a face smiling using an exclamation point and parenthesis
Admin
AL says
Hi, what to do when Favicon is not showing on chromium-based browser and shows up in Firefox.
WPBeginner Support says
You would normally want to clear your site’s cache as well as try setting the favicon again for a common reason.
Admin
John says
I’m new to this so would appreciate some guidance with favicon. The website I’m trying to look after needs the favicon changing. Can I load a new image as a favicon that will overwrite the favicon currently on the pages or must i delete the current one then load a new image?
Thanks for any reply
WPBeginner Support says
You would want to reach out to the support for your specific theme for if your theme has this option.
Admin
Ray says
I was fine on the video until you said “click on site identity”… there is no such tab on my version. The first option is “Global” then Header, Breadcrumb, UberMenu{main], Blog, etc. No “Site Identity”…so obviously without being to get to that screen I’m not going anywhere. Is there another way in?
WPBeginner Support says
If your theme has different settings and you are unable to find the favicon in the customization settings, you would want to reach out to the support for your specific theme to see if they have it located in a theme-specific area.
Admin
Krishna says
Hii Wpbeginner!
I’m using Astra theme my website Favicon is working every one except Google search results. How can I fixed it?
WPBeginner Support says
You would need to wait for Google at the moment.
Admin
Soul sultan says
This is the awesome guide about how to add favicon on wodpress blog
WPBeginner Support says
Thank you, glad you found our content helpful
Admin
Shomirul Islam Bonny says
Thanks! It helped me!
WPBeginner Support says
You’re welcome, glad it helped
Admin
Munendra Singh says
all helpful post,, thanks
WPBeginner Support says
Glad you found our post helpful
Admin
Raj says
Great ! I always go through from your tutorials when ever i get stuck in any kind of issue. Thanks for it.
WPBeginner Support says
Thanks, glad our articles could help
Admin
John Barson says
Can’t Add a Favicon to Your WordPress Website? That was my problem. I did a fair bit of research where I finally found my issue. It was because the PHP GD Library was not enabled. Fortunately, I control my own server. I had upgraded the server PHP to v7.2 but I forgot to enable the PHP GD library. So…if you find when you try to add the site icon in the appearances section of your wordpress admin and the image you upload/select is not being accepted or you can’t use the crop image feature it is most likely because your webserver host has not enabled the GD Library.
WPBeginner Support says
Thanks for sharing this information should someone else run into that issue
Admin
Cean Herzfield says
Thank you so much! You saved me a lot of frustration because I’m working on Xampp and it was disabled by default. Now wouldn’t it have been nice if they had mentioned it in the article.
Pritam says
Favicon of my website was visible before I changed DNS for Cloudflare. Now it is visible in the admin side but not on the website. How to solve this problem. you can check on my website
Michele A says
This tutorial was wonderful! Thank you so much for the great work!
Jacques says
My Favicon is updating in ADMIN side, but not on user side
Tracy says
Were you able to figure out how to fix it?
RAJ says
“When I go to the “Site Identity” tab, there is no place to upload a site icon. The only option I have is the “Site Title”. That’s ALL!
I am using WordPress 4.7.3.”
Bekzat Sadykov says
I guess, the WP theme you are using doesn’t have favicon implemented. So, if it is not declared in theme functions.php file, it won’t appear in admin/editor side.
You can hardcode it to header.php or use third-part plugins.
jacob says
scroll down a little you will see the place to upload your favicon
Eleanor says
Hi, I recently updated my website from HTTP to HTTPS and when that happened, the site icon stopped working. Does this mean that somewhere along the line I’ve missed a step? I’ve tried changing the image and reuploading a new one and that hasn’t worked. If someone types in the website URL using http then the old favicon (and not site icon) shows up, but the minute it’s https, then it disappears. The site icon though is visible when I’m logged into the dashboard.
Matt Parker says
Eleanor
I’m on HTTPS and I have the same issue, did you find a solution?
Favicon only shows when I’m logged in in admin mode!
Jimmy says
When I go to the “Site Identity” tab, there is no place to upload a site icon. The only option I have is the “Site Title”. That’s ALL!
I am using WordPress 4.7.3.
Please help!
Ahmed Akeem says
I guess, the WP theme you are using doesn’t have favicon implemented. So, if it is not declared in theme functions.php file, it won’t appear in admin/editor side.
You can hardcode it to header.php or use third-part plugins.
Abubakar Sahabi Rafi says
It really helped, more grease to our elbow.
Tim says
Can anyone tell me how this new “Site Icon” feature is supposed to work? I get to the point where the file is uploaded and I get a dialog box that offers to crop the image. The problem is 1) my image doesn’t need to be cropped and 2) there’s no “Save” button (or “Done” or anything similar), only a “Crop” button and the upper right corner X to close the dialog. If I click “Crop” I get an error (Error cropping this image, bla bla bla) and if I hit the X it closes. Either way, my image is not saved as a Site Icon (even though it is saved in the media library. After deleting the image, resizing it to exactly 512×512, I upload it again. This time, no crop dialog, just the “Select” image dialog. I click select, the image has a box around it and a check mark and nothing else happens. No Save, etc. When I close the dialog, there’s still “No image selected.” This happens in Chrome AND Firefox. I’m ready to throw WordPress away and hand code everything. I haven’t used WordPress in a couple of years and I’m frustrated with what seems like buggy, poor design and feature bloat.
Brian says
code easy to interpret, it worked out. thanks…
Jason says
Why does it need to be 512 pixels for an icon? I’m hoping it’s converted somewhere inside WordPress, once and done, and not on every load. 512×512 is crazy for something that would very rarely be bigger than 32X32, unless I am missing something?
John Krawczyk says
Article not useful. Everyone tells you to make a path to your favicon & that’s it.
However do you include http: www http do you specify .ico .png?
Nobody says anything in detail.
WPBeginner Support says
Hi John,
Yes you need to include full URL like this:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/favicon.pngAdmin
Joe says
Using WP4.7 and the Site Icon functionality works, but it just seems off to me. The result is 4 links in the section:
But it creates 10 different versions of the site icon image in addition to the original at sizes of 32×32, 100×100, 150×150, 180×180, 192×192, 250×250, 270×270, 300×300, 360×360, 500×310.
Why so many cropped images if only 4 linked to?
Also, I submit an icon image sized 512×512 as recommended, but the 500×310 version is always cropped so the top and bottom of the icon is cut off. Is there any way around this and/or is it a big deal?
What browser support does this WP Site Icon cover (mostly in respect to how far back in IE)?
Thanks!
Marieke says
In Whatsapp, the image which appears left to a link address if you send a link: is that the same icon? Because I don’t see it there.
Sunil says
Marieke, It’s featured image, you upload to a particular post.
Cos says
The ICO Format plugin for Adobe Photoshop does not allow images more than 256 pixels high or wide. So how do you create one that’s 512px???
Marieke says
It doesn’t need to be made an .ico. Just a plain .png or .lpg will do when you work in WordPress.
Salim Ahmed says
Informative instruction. Now i following your tips and tricks. Thanks for sharing it.
Taimoor Ahmed says
Kindly tell me any website or a software from where I can make an effective favicon for my site in a quick time????
Kirstie says
Thank you for another simple to follow tutorial. I’m a true beginner and y’all do a great job explaining things in a way I can understand.
WPBeginner Support says
Thanks, glad you find our tutorials helpful.
Admin
Nelson says
thanks good tut easy and works
c says
the add logo in some themes isn’t for favicon its for the header logo
ccstacyline says
how come my side identity menu doesn’t have the service for site icon? I am so frustrated… can you help ?
John Davis Frain says
Are the instructions you give here theme-specific? I’m using the Delicacy theme, and it doesn’t give me that option to alter Site Identity and insert a Favicon.
WPBeginner Support says
No it is not theme specific. Make sure you are using the latest version of your theme.
Admin
Mad Dog Malcs says
Hi There, I also don’t see the site identity tab, I am using the sketch theme, how do I update a theme?
Thanks in advance, Malcs
shashi says
i may go to theme custimztion..there u see the option of uploading the favicon icon easliy…
Antonios says
You might not see the word “favicon” probably site icon. If you see a scrow bar you might have to scrow all the way down to see the select image box.
a says
You can add favicon by WordPress’ “Costumize” editor, which can be found in every wordpress site.
Alan says
I upload a PNG file that is exactly 512×512 pixels, WordPress saves it, and then I end up with a cropped image in my media library. Super annoying! WordPress 4.4.
Alan says
I should add that the new, cropped image is exactly the same dimensions as the original I uploaded, but now I have two in my library (albeit one has been processed twice, and has actually increased two kilobytes in file size!).
Katherine Johnston says
I have gone through the directory, exactly as you described, but my Site Identity tab only has “Site Title”, “Tagline”, and a checkbox for displaying header text. How can I fix that? Or do I have to go the FTP route?
Thanks for the help!
Rahul Thakur says
thank you so much, very simple way love it.
Liz says
Excellent instructions, took me about 32 seconds to do it. Fabulous! Thank you
Erin says
Thanks! This was very helpful.
Marie Bock says
Wow! That was so easy with the newer version of WordPress.
Matt says
Super-easy! Thanks for that – I just need to go away and design a better logo now
Viscoun says
Doesn’t work. When I got to Customize > Site Identity, the site icon option doesn’t show up – it only says “Site Title” and “Tagline”.
david says
what version of wordpress are you using?
Harshpreet says
Hi same is the problem I am facing and I am using the website of wordpress on my laptop for building up my blog!
Gina says
I’m having the same problem. I’m using wordpress directly online, I haven’t downloaded anything. No “site icon” option at all.
WPBeginner Support says
Please see our guide on the difference between self hosted WordPress.org vs free WordPress.com blog.
Admin
Lourika says
It took me forever to figure it out!!!!
In the top left corner, click on MY SITES
Go to WP Admin
Then click on SETTINGS
and you will be able to change the icon (picture) on the right hand side……
Megan says
Yay! It worked perfectly and the instructions were super easy to follow. Thank you so much!
Malcolm Ruthven says
I added a 512×512 pixel jog image via Site Identity / Site Icon. The image appears just fine there. But the image does not appear as a favicon in any browser (Firefox, IE, or Chrome).
Shawna Marie says
I’ve done all the steps. The image shoes in the customiser but not on the site on any platform…iphone or on my iMac in any of the browsers. Is there a specific file type?
WPBeginner Support says
Site icon feature supports PNG, JPEG, and GIF image files.
Admin
Mike Crutcher says
This doesn’t work on my site. I’ve got the icon the correct size, but it’s not showing up. Perhaps it’s because of my custom URL?
Maria says
Is this option to alter Site Identity and add the Favicon theme-specific? I don’t have that in my self-hosted site.
Dave says
Thanks! Worked great.
Arsh says
Thank you !
Nikki says
I am so glad to have stumbled upon your article. I had quit trying to figure out how to upload my favicon in the past because it felt impossible. But recently, I felt the need to take another stab at it. You made it so easy! I can’t recall it being this easy to upload before.
Thank you!
Nikki
Ruby Dawnbrooke says
Hello!
I have a question, recently, I’ve used the plugin All in One Favicon. I uploaded my picture but it doesn’t show up if I’m not logged into WordPress, it just keeps on showing the HostGator favicon (regular), can anyone help?