ICO to AVIF Converter: Free, Private, No Upload

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

ICO to AVIF
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 ICO to AVIF for free?

Drop your ICO files into the tool above, choose AVIF 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: ICO
Output format: AVIF
Best for: AVIF workflows, smaller files, faster sharing
Works on: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, iOS and Android browsers
Privacy: No upload, no tracking, metadata stripped
Output quality: Adjustable 1-100, defaults to 90

How to convert ICO to AVIF

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

ICO to AVIF: what changes and when it makes sense

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 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 vs AVIF at a glance

Property	ICO	AVIF
Type	Container format	Raster image
Compression	A container holding one or more bitmaps, each stored as BMP or PNG data	Lossy or lossless, based on the AV1 video codec
Transparency	Full alpha channel with soft edges	Full alpha channel with soft edges
Animation	No	Yes
Colour depth	Up to 32-bit colour with an 8-bit alpha channel	8, 10 or 12 bits per channel, with HDR and wide-gamut support
Support	Supported by Windows and by browsers as a favicon, but most image viewers and editors do not open it directly	Supported by current Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, but many editors, social platforms and OS viewers cannot open it
History	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.	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).

What actually changes in this conversion

Moving from a lossless format to AVIF is where you trade fidelity for size. Start high and lower until the difference becomes visible.
Transparency is preserved, including soft edges.
EXIF, GPS and camera data are stripped on every conversion. That is good for privacy, but you lose capture dates.

About ICO: history and technical details

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).

About AVIF: what you get

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).

Browser and software compatibility

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

AVIF is well supported by current browsers but is still rejected by many editors and social platforms.

Why people move away from ICO

ICO is capped at 256 by 256 pixels, so it is of no use as a general-purpose image format.
Many image viewers and design tools cannot open ICO directly, so you need a PNG to edit it.

Why people choose AVIF

AVIF often produces files 30 to 50 percent smaller than JPG at comparable quality.
It can carry 10-bit and HDR content that JPG and WebP cannot.
It pays off most on hero images and large photo galleries, where bytes matter the most.

Common mistakes with ICO

Creating a favicon.ico with a single 16x16 size — looks blurry on Retina
Using ICO for general images — 256x256 limit makes it useless
Forgetting the .ico fallback — some old browsers still request it automatically

Best practices for keeping quality

ICO files are tiny, often 32 by 32 pixels. Scaling them up blurs, so start from a larger original when possible.
AVIF quality numbers do not line up with JPG. Start around 60-70 and compare against the original at 100 percent zoom.
Serve AVIF with a WebP or JPG fallback using the picture element so older browsers still get an image.
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.

ICO to AVIF questions

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

Why convert ICO to AVIF?

AVIF files are typically smaller than ICO, which makes them faster to share, send and load. The trade-off is a small amount of image detail at low quality settings.

Will converting ICO to AVIF lose quality?

At 90% quality, most people cannot tell the difference. Use 85-95% for photos and you are fine.

Does AVIF keep transparency?

Yes. AVIF 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.

Is AVIF smaller than WebP?

Yes, typically 20-30% smaller at similar quality. But AVIF is much slower to encode and has less software support outside browsers.

Does AVIF support HDR?

Yes. AVIF supports 10-bit and 12-bit colour, HDR (Hybrid Log-Gamma and PQ), and wide-gamut BT.2020 colour. JPG and WebP cannot do this.

Can AVIF be animated?

Yes, though animated AVIF support is still limited in browsers. Chrome and Firefox support it, Safari does not as of early 2026.

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.