Windows icon sizes and how to make an .ico file

Windows shows the same icon at many sizes: in the taskbar, Start menu, File Explorer and title bars.

It looks for an exact size in your .ico file first.

If there is no exact match, it takes the next larger size and scales it down, which can look soft.

The minimum set

Microsoft's guidance is that every app icon should contain at least these sizes:

• 16×16, 24×24, 32×32, 48×48 and 256×256 px.

Including 256 px means Windows only ever scales your icon down, never up. Scaling up is what makes icons look blurry on high-DPI screens.

Where Windows uses each size

Windows 10 and 11 multiply icon sizes by your display scale (100%, 125%, 150%, 200% and up). A 16 px icon becomes 20 px at 125% and 24 px at 150%.

Sizes in pixels, based on Microsoft's Windows app icon construction guidance.

What our converter puts in the file

Every ICO made with PNGtoICO contains nine sizes: 16, 20, 24, 32, 40, 48, 64, 128 and 256 px.

That covers Microsoft's minimum set, every title-bar and tray size up to 200% scaling, and the 256 px size for Explorer's largest view.

Each size is resampled separately from a 256 px master, so the small ones stay as crisp as possible.

How to make a Windows .ico from a PNG

1. Start with a square PNG of at least 256×256 px, ideally with a transparent background.
2. Upload it to the PNG to ICO converter.
3. Download the .ico file. It is ready to use, no other tools needed.

Using the icon

For a folder or shortcut

Right-click the folder or shortcut and choose Properties. For a folder, open the Customize tab. For a shortcut, stay on the Shortcut tab. Click Change Icon, then Browse to your .ico file.

Keep the .ico in a permanent folder. If you move or delete it later, Windows falls back to the default icon.

For your own program

Most build tools take the .ico directly. In Visual Studio, set it under the project's Application properties. Electron Builder, Tauri and installers like Inno Setup each have an icon setting that points to an .ico file.

Icon looks wrong after changing it?

Windows caches icons. Signing out and back in, or restarting Explorer from Task Manager, usually refreshes them.