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GIF to ICO converter

Convert GIF to ICO in your browser. No upload and no account: the file never leaves your device, so the only size limit is your device’s memory.

I want ICO
90%
Icon sizes
How to make the SVG

Tracing suits logos, icons and flat artwork and scales cleanly. Photos are better kept as pixels inside the SVG.

16
50%
Dither Scatters black dots to suggest gray, instead of a hard cut-off.
Advanced 5
Keep the animation For animated GIF, WebP and APNG sources. Turn off to save just the first frame.
Rotate
Mirror horizontally
Mirror vertically

For an exact width and height, use the Resize Image tool instead.

Bytes of your files sent anywhere: 0 B

Related conversions

Need it the other way round? Convert ICO to GIF

Other ways to convert GIF

Convert other formats to ICO

Read more about the GIF format and the ICO format, or see every image tool and all image conversions.

Should you convert GIF to ICO?

Yes, if you need a favicon or a Windows icon. Start from a square GIF of at least 256 pixels, with a transparent background if it has one, so every size inside the ICO comes out crisp.

Bear in mind ICO is opens almost everywhere: it works in browsers (as a favicon) and Windows.

GIF is a 256-color image format best known for short looping animations; ICO is a small container that holds the same icon at several sizes. Use ICO for a favicon.ico at the root of a website, or an icon for a Windows program or shortcut.

GIF and ICO compared
Property GIF ICO
Compression Lossless Lossless
Transparency Yes Yes
Animation Yes No
Support Opens everywhere Opens almost everywhere
Best for Short, silent loops and reaction images Website favicons and Windows shortcuts
Introduced 1987 1985

How to convert GIF to ICO

  1. 01

    Add your GIF

    Drop your GIF image onto the box, or click to choose it. It is read from your disk and stays there.

  2. 02

    Check the settings

    The output is already set to ICO. Change the quality if you want to; the defaults suit most files.

  3. 03

    Save the ICO

    Press convert and save the ICO. Several files come back together as a ZIP.

What changes when GIF becomes ICO

Nothing is discarded

GIF and ICO both keep every pixel, so the picture survives the move intact. You can convert back and forth as often as you like without it degrading.

Transparency is kept

GIF and ICO both support transparency, so transparent backgrounds and soft edges come through unchanged.

Animations become a still

ICO can’t move, so an animated GIF is saved as its first frame. Choose GIF or APNG instead to keep the animation.

One ICO, every size

The ICO holds 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, 128 and 256 pixel versions, each scaled from your GIF and centered on a transparent square. Browsers and Windows pick the size they need.

Expect a smaller file

ICO usually stores the same content in less space than GIF. GIF: A five-second animation can easily pass 10 MB. ICO: A full favicon with every size is usually under 100 KB.

This page is put together from our notes on each format, choosing only what is true of GIF and ICO, so every pairing states the same facts the same way. How these pages are made.

Why it doesn’t upload

Changing a picture’s format is work your browser already knows how to do. Sending your photos to a server first only adds waiting and risk, so nothing is sent.

How to check for yourself

Worth knowing

  • About the GIF. A few seconds of video as GIF is often ten times the size of the same clip as MP4, because GIF compresses each frame as a separate picture.
  • About the ICO. Renaming a PNG to favicon.ico works in some browsers and silently fails in others. A real ICO holds several sizes so each place picks the right one.
  • DDS, PSD, EXR, XWD and JPEG 2000 are read by the FFmpeg engine, a one-time 31 MB download.

Questions

Will converting GIF to ICO lose quality?

No. GIF and ICO are both lossless, so every pixel is kept.

Will the ICO be smaller than the GIF?

Expect a smaller file. ICO usually stores the same content in less space than GIF. GIF: A five-second animation can easily pass 10 MB. ICO: A full favicon with every size is usually under 100 KB.

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