AVIF to ICO Converter: Free, Private, No Upload

Convert AVIF files to ICO in your browser. Lossless output, batch up to 20 files at once, no upload, no account, no watermark. Your files never leave your device.

AVIF to ICO
Batch up to 20 files
No upload, no account
Metadata stripped

1Add up to 20 images
2Pick from 18 formats
3Download or copy the code

Processed on your device. Your images are never uploaded, and metadata is stripped. How we keep it private

How do I convert AVIF to ICO for free?

Drop your AVIF files into the tool above, choose ICO as output, and download the result. Everything runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded and there is no limit or watermark. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS, iOS and Android — anywhere you have a modern browser.

Price: Free, no credits and no daily cap
Account required: No
File uploaded to server: No, processed locally in your browser
Batch limit: Up to 20 files at once
Input format: AVIF
Output format: ICO
Best for: ICO workflows, lossless quality, editing, printing
Works on: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, iOS and Android browsers
Privacy: No upload, no tracking, metadata stripped
Output quality: Lossless, exact pixels

How to convert AVIF to ICO

1
Drop your AVIF files
Drag up to 20 AVIF files onto the page or click to choose them. Everything runs in your browser.
2
ICO is preselected
Output is already set to ICO. Adjust quality, resize or batch if you want.
3
Download
Save each ICO, or download all of them together as a ZIP.

AVIF to ICO: what changes and when it makes sense

AVIF is an AV1 Image File Format. It is best known for the smallest files of any common web format at a given quality. The main drawbacks are slow encoding, patchy support outside browsers, and smoothing in fine textures at aggressive settings.

ICO is an Windows icon format. It is best known for packing several sizes (16, 32, 48, 256 pixels) into a single file. The main drawbacks are a maximum size of 256 by 256 pixels and little use outside icons.

AVIF vs ICO at a glance

Property	AVIF	ICO
Type	Raster image	Container format
Compression	Lossy or lossless, based on the AV1 video codec	A container holding one or more bitmaps, each stored as BMP or PNG data
Transparency	Full alpha channel with soft edges	Full alpha channel with soft edges
Animation	Yes	No
Colour depth	8, 10 or 12 bits per channel, with HDR and wide-gamut support	Up to 32-bit colour with an 8-bit alpha channel
Support	Supported by current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, but many editors, social platforms and OS viewers cannot open it	Supported by Windows and by browsers as a favicon, but most image viewers and editors do not open it directly
History	Finalised in 2019 by the Alliance for Open Media (Google, Mozilla, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, Intel and others). Based on AV1 video codec, successor to VP9 and HEVC. First major browser support: Chrome 85 (2020).	Introduced by Microsoft with Windows 1.0 in 1985. The modern 32-bit alpha version became standard with Windows XP (2001). Windows Vista (2007) added PNG compression inside ICO for icons larger than 48x48.

What actually changes in this conversion

AVIF can be lossy or lossless. If your file was saved lossy, converting to ICO stops further loss but does not restore detail.
Transparency is preserved, including soft edges.
AVIF can hold animation, but ICO cannot, so the result is a single still frame.
Browser-based conversion works in 8-bit sRGB. Wide-gamut, 10-bit and 16-bit data are reduced. For colour-critical work, keep the original.
ICO holds images up to 256 by 256 pixels. Larger sources are scaled down.
EXIF, GPS and camera data are stripped on every conversion. That is good for privacy, but you lose capture dates.

About AVIF: history and technical details

Finalised in 2019 by the Alliance for Open Media (Google, Mozilla, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Amazon, Intel and others). Based on AV1 video codec, successor to VP9 and HEVC. First major browser support: Chrome 85 (2020).

Technical: AV1 intra-frame coding with variable block sizes from 4x4 to 128x128. Supports 8/10/12-bit colour, HDR, wide gamut (BT.2020), monochrome. HEIF-based container. Encoding is 10-100x slower than JPEG.

Real-world size: AVIF at quality 50 produces files 30-50% smaller than JPG at quality 85 with similar visual quality. Netflix reports 50% bandwidth savings after switching. Google reports AVIF is 20-30% smaller than WebP.

Popular tools: Adobe Photoshop 2024+, GIMP 2.10+, Squoosh, avifenc, ImageMagick, AVIF.io, Netflix (production use).

Alternatives: WebP (faster encode, less compression), JPG (universal), HEIC (Apple-only), JPEG XL (future format).

About ICO: what you get

Introduced by Microsoft with Windows 1.0 in 1985. The modern 32-bit alpha version became standard with Windows XP (2001). Windows Vista (2007) added PNG compression inside ICO for icons larger than 48x48.

Technical: Container holds 1-65535 images. Each entry has a 16-byte directory: width, height, colour count, planes, bit count, data size, data offset. Images are BMP (DIB) or PNG. Max dimension 256x256. Typical Windows icons use 16, 32, 48, 64, 128, 256.

Real-world size: A 6-size favicon.ico is typically 15-40 KB. A single 256x256 PNG favicon is 8-15 KB. Modern best practice uses separate files for 16, 32, 180 (Apple), 192, 512 (PWA).

Popular tools: IcoFX, GIMP, Adobe Photoshop (with plugin), ImageMagick, Favicon Generator, RealFaviconGenerator.

Alternatives: PNG (single size, widely accepted), SVG (sharp at any size), favicon.ico (still needed for legacy).

Browser and software compatibility

AVIF: Supported by current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, but many editors, social platforms and OS viewers cannot open it. ICO: Supported by Windows and by browsers as a favicon, but most image viewers and editors do not open it directly.

ICO is meant for favicons and Windows icons. It is not a general-purpose image format.

Why people move away from AVIF

Outside browsers, AVIF support is thin. Many editors, email clients and social platforms cannot open it.
Uploaders that accept only JPG or PNG reject AVIF files.
Fine texture such as film grain or fabric can look smoothed at aggressive AVIF settings.

Why people choose ICO

Browsers and Windows still look for favicon.ico at the root of a site by default.
One ICO file can carry several sizes, so tab icons, bookmarks and shortcuts all look sharp.
Windows shortcuts and application icons expect ICO.

Common mistakes with AVIF

Encoding AVIF at quality 90 thinking it will match JPG 90 — AVIF scale is different
Using AVIF for small icons — encoding overhead wastes savings
Expecting Photoshop (pre-2024) to open AVIF files — it will not

Best practices for keeping quality

AVIF files are often made for the web already. If you need to edit one, convert from the original source rather than stacking another lossy pass.
Start from a square image of at least 256 by 256 pixels and keep the design simple, since it will often be shown at 16 by 16.
Keep a PNG or SVG copy. Modern browsers accept link rel="icon" pointing at PNG or SVG.
Resize before converting if the image will be shown small. A 4000 pixel photo displayed at 800 pixels wastes bytes in any format.
Check the result at 100 percent zoom, especially around text, edges and gradients, before you replace any originals.
Keep your original files. Conversions to a lossy format cannot be undone.
When you convert a set of images, use the same quality setting for the whole batch. The converter handles up to 20 files at once.

AVIF to ICO questions

Quick answers about privacy, quality, supported formats, file limits and how ICO works.

Why convert AVIF to ICO?

ICO is lossless. It keeps every pixel exactly. It is the safe choice when you plan to edit, print or need exact pixel data.

Will converting AVIF to ICO lose quality?

No. ICO is lossless, so nothing is thrown away.

Does ICO keep transparency?

Yes. ICO supports full transparency, so transparent areas in your original are kept.

Are my files uploaded?

Never. Everything runs in your browser. Your files never leave your device. Open DevTools Network tab while processing — you will see no upload request.

Can I convert many files at once?

Yes, up to 20 files at once. Download them individually or all together as a ZIP.

Does the converter strip metadata?

Yes. Browsers do not pass EXIF data through a canvas, so GPS, camera model and dates are removed on every conversion. That is good for privacy.

Is it free?

Yes. No credits, no daily cap, no account, no watermark. The practical limit is your device memory.

What sizes should a favicon.ico have?

At minimum 16x16, 32x32, and 48x48. Modern best practice is to include 16, 32, 48, 64, 128, and 256 pixel versions in one ICO file. Browsers pick the size they need.

Your files never leave your device

No upload, no account, no tracking. Everything happens in your browser using the Canvas API and WebAssembly. You can confirm this in your browser's DevTools Network tab while the tool runs — no request carries your file. See why ToolDeck is different.