A favicon not showing is a small problem that makes a whole site look unfinished. You upload a new logo, refresh the page, and the browser tab still shows a blank globe or your old icon. Or the icon looks fine in your own browser, but Google search results show a grey default next to your site name. It is a tiny image, and it is rarely obvious which of the several places a favicon lives is causing the problem.
This guide explains the real reasons a favicon goes missing or refuses to update in WordPress, Chrome and Google Search, and gives the fixes in the order that saves the most time. It follows Google’s current favicon documentation and the WordPress Site Icon requirements. Last updated: October 24, 2026.
Quick Answer
A favicon not showing usually comes down to one of five reasons: the icon file or its <link rel="icon"> tag is missing, the image is the wrong shape or size, an old copy is cached in your browser, plugin or CDN, two icon sources are competing, or Google has not recrawled your homepage yet. Open the icon URL directly to confirm it loads, check the tag in your page source, make sure the image is a square (at least 512×512 px for WordPress), clear every cache layer, and then give Google days to weeks to refresh. If you need a correct set of files quickly, you can create them with our free favicon generator.
Where a Favicon Actually Shows (and What Controls Each Place)
The same small icon is read by several different systems. Knowing which one is failing tells you which fix to use.
| Where You Look | What Controls It | How Fast It Updates |
|---|---|---|
| Browser tab | The icon tag in your page and the browser’s own favicon cache | Right away, once the cache is cleared |
| Bookmarks and history | The same browser favicon cache | Can lag behind the tab until the cache is cleared |
| Phone home screen shortcut | The Apple touch icon or manifest icons | Usually only after you add the shortcut again |
| Google search results | The icon on your homepage, crawled by Google | Several days to several weeks, according to Google |
The most common mistake is fixing the first row and expecting the last row to change at the same time. They are separate.
Why This Is Happening
1. The icon file or the tag is missing
A browser can only show what your page points to. If there is no icon tag in the page head, or the tag points to a file that no longer exists, you get the default globe.
Clue: opening the icon address in a new tab shows a 404 error, or the page source has no line containing rel="icon".
2. The image is the wrong shape, size or format
Favicons must be square. A wide logo gets squashed or cropped, and a tiny image looks blurry or is rejected. WordPress also asks for a Site Icon of at least 512×512 pixels.
Clue: the icon appears stretched, blurry or cut off, or WordPress refuses the upload or asks you to crop it.
3. An old icon is cached
Browsers store favicons by their URL and keep them for a long time. Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome, Brave and Opera are known for caching them aggressively, so the old icon can survive after the file has changed. Your caching plugin or CDN can hold an old copy too.
Clue: the new icon appears in a private window or a different browser, but not in your usual one.
4. Two icon sources are competing
A theme setting, the WordPress Site Icon, a header-code plugin and an old file in the site root can each add an icon. When more than one is present, the browser may pick one you did not expect.
Clue: the page source shows more than one icon tag, or the wrong logo appears even though you replaced the Site Icon.
5. Google has not recrawled it, or cannot reach it
Google reads the favicon from your homepage and uses its own crawler for the image file. It can take a while to notice a change, and it cannot use an icon that your robots.txt blocks.
Clue: the icon shows correctly in your browser, but search results still show the old or a default icon, or you changed the icon only recently.
Fix 1: Open the Icon File Directly
- In a new tab, type your domain followed by
/favicon.ico, for exampleyoursite.com/favicon.ico. - If you know your icon uses a different file name, open that URL instead.
- Look at what loads: your icon, a 404 page, or a different logo.
On WordPress, this address may redirect to your Site Icon, or to a default WordPress logo if no Site Icon is set. Either result tells you something useful: the default logo means WordPress does not have your icon yet.
Test: your own icon loads on its own in the tab, or you now know the file is missing and can go to Fix 3 and Fix 4.
Fix 2: Check the Icon Tag in Your Page Source
- Open your homepage, right-click and choose View page source, or press Ctrl + U.
- Press Ctrl + F and search for
icon. - Look for a line such as
<link rel="icon" href="..." />inside the<head>section. - Copy the
hrefaddress and open it in a new tab to confirm it loads.
Google’s documentation says the tag belongs in the header of your home page, and it accepts rel="icon", rel="shortcut icon", rel="apple-touch-icon" and rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed". The address can be relative or absolute, and the file can sit on a CDN.
Test: you find exactly one clear icon tag, and its address opens your icon image.
Fix 3: Use a Correct Icon File
If the file itself is wrong, no amount of cache clearing will help. Check these points:
- Square: a 1:1 aspect ratio, so 512×512 rather than a wide logo.
- Size: Google accepts icons from 8×8 pixels and recommends larger than 48×48, so it looks sharp on different screens. WordPress asks for at least 512×512 for the Site Icon.
- Format: Google supports BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM and TIFF. PNG is the simplest choice for most sites.
- A real ICO: if you want a
.icofile, it has to be built as an ICO. Renaming a PNG to .ico is not the same thing. - Simple design: a bold shape or letter stays readable at 16×16 pixels, where fine detail turns to mush.
You can upload your logo to our favicon and app icon generator to get the common sizes, a real favicon.ico, an Apple touch icon and the HTML code in one download. It runs in your browser, so your image is not uploaded to a server.
Test: your icon is square, at least 512×512, and looks readable when shrunk to the size of a browser tab.
Fix 4: Set the Site Icon in WordPress the Right Way
- On WordPress 6.5 and later, go to Settings > General and find Site Icon.
- On a classic theme, you can also use Appearance > Customize > Site Identity > Select site icon.
- Upload your square image, crop it in the preview, and save or publish.
- If you added a favicon through a header-code plugin or a theme option earlier, remove it so only one source remains.
If the old icon keeps coming back, check your page source again after saving. You want a single icon tag pointing to the file you just uploaded.
Test: the page source shows one icon tag, and its address opens your new image.
Fix 5: Clear Every Cache Layer
Work from your site outward to your browser, because each layer can serve an old copy.
- Site cache: purge the cache from your caching plugin.
- CDN: if you use one, purge it as well.
- Hard refresh: press Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows or Linux, or Cmd + Shift + R on a Mac.
- Private window: open your site in a private or incognito window to see it without stored data.
- Chrome favicon cache: in Chrome or Brave, open
chrome://favicon-internals, clear the favicon cache there, and reload your site.
Closing and reopening the browser after step 5 helps if the tab still shows the old icon.
Test: your new icon shows in a private window and, after the cache clear, in your normal browser too.
Fix 6: Give the Icon a New File Name (Once)
Browsers cache favicons by address. If you replaced an icon but kept the same file name, some browsers keep showing the old one. Renaming the file forces them to fetch it again.
- Rename the file, for example
favicon-v2.png. - Update the icon tag so it points to the new name.
- Clear your site cache and reload.
Do this once, not every time you tweak the design. Google’s documentation says the favicon URL should be stable and should not change frequently, so constant renaming can slow down how quickly Google settles on your icon. On WordPress, uploading a new Site Icon already gives the image a new address, so you rarely need this step there.
Test: the browser tab shows the new icon without needing a private window.
Fix 7: Make Sure Google Can Reach the Icon
- Open
yoursite.com/robots.txt. - Look for any
Disallowline that covers the folder where your icon lives, such as your uploads folder, or that blocks your homepage. - Remove or adjust a rule that blocks the icon file or the homepage.
Google says Googlebot-Image must be able to crawl the favicon file and Googlebot must be able to crawl your home page. If either is blocked, the icon cannot appear in search results, no matter how correct the file is.
Test: your robots.txt has no rule that blocks the icon file or your homepage.
Fix 8: Get Google to Recrawl Your Homepage
Search results are the slowest place to update, and they follow a few special rules.
- Google supports one favicon per hostname. A domain-level or subdomain-level home page qualifies, but a home page in a subdirectory does not.
- The favicon should visually represent your site, and Google does not show icons it considers inappropriate.
- Changes can take several days to several weeks to appear.
To nudge it along, open Google Search Console, paste your homepage address into URL Inspection, and choose Request indexing. After that, wait and check your result in search again. Google also notes that meeting every guideline does not guarantee a favicon will be shown. You can read the full rules in Google’s favicon in search guidelines.
Test: after Google has had time to recrawl, your icon appears next to your site name in search results.
Troubleshooting Table
Use this table to match your symptom, whether you have a favicon not showing everywhere or only in one browser or in Google.
| What You See | Most Likely Cause | Start With |
|---|---|---|
| Blank globe in every browser | Missing file or missing icon tag | Fix 1 and Fix 2 |
| Default WordPress logo | No Site Icon set | Fix 4 |
| Old icon in one browser only | Browser favicon cache | Fix 5 |
| New icon in private window only | Browser or site cache | Fix 5, then Fix 6 |
| Stretched, blurry or cropped icon | Wrong shape, size or format | Fix 3 |
| Wrong logo after replacing Site Icon | Second icon source competing | Fix 2 and Fix 4 |
| Icon fine in browser, missing in Google | Not recrawled, or blocked | Fix 7 and Fix 8 |
Pro Tips
- Design the icon at 512×512 and check how it looks when shrunk to 16×16 before you upload it.
- Use a bold letter or simple shape, because thin lines and small text disappear at tab size.
- Check your page source after every change instead of guessing which icon is being served.
- Keep one icon source only, either the WordPress Site Icon or a manual setup, and not both.
- Test in a private window first, since it skips most of the browser’s stored data.
- After a rebrand, update the icon the same week, so Google sees the new one while you are already requesting recrawls.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Renaming a PNG to .ico. A real ICO file has to be created as one.
- Uploading a wide logo. Favicons are square, so a wide image gets squashed or cropped.
- Expecting Google to update at once. Search results can take days to weeks to change.
- Changing the icon address again and again. Google asks for a stable URL.
- Leaving old icon tags in a header plugin. They can compete with the new Site Icon.
- Blocking the uploads folder in robots.txt. That can stop Google from reading the icon.
FAQs
Why is my favicon not showing in Chrome even after I changed it?
Chrome stores favicons by their address and can keep serving the old one. Hard refresh with Ctrl + Shift + R, test in a private window, and clear the favicon cache at chrome://favicon-internals. If the same file name is still cached, rename the file once and update the tag.
How long does it take for Google to show a new favicon?
Google says it can take several days to several weeks to recrawl and process the change. You can speed it up by requesting indexing of your homepage in the URL Inspection tool, but it is not guaranteed.
What size should a favicon be?
Google requires a square image of at least 8×8 pixels and recommends larger than 48×48. WordPress asks for a Site Icon of at least 512×512 pixels, which is also a safe size to design at.
Can I use a PNG instead of an ICO file?
Yes. Google supports PNG, ICO and several other formats. Many sites still include an ICO for older software, but a correctly sized PNG is enough for most modern browsers.
Why does my favicon show in the browser but not in Google?
They are separate systems. Your browser reads the icon tag on the page and caches it locally, while Google reads it from your homepage on its own schedule. Check that robots.txt does not block the icon or the homepage, then request indexing and wait.
Why do I see the default WordPress logo instead of my icon?
It usually means no Site Icon is set. Go to Settings > General, add a square image of at least 512×512 pixels, save, and clear your caches.
Does a favicon affect SEO rankings?
Google’s favicon documentation describes it as the icon shown next to your result and does not present it as a ranking factor. It does help your result look trustworthy and recognizable, which is why it is worth getting right.
Do I need to upload favicon.ico to my WordPress root folder?
Not if you set a Site Icon in WordPress, because WordPress adds the icon tags for you. A manual upload is only needed if you manage your icons by hand, and then you should remove the Site Icon so the two do not compete.