Tabicons / help centre

Tabicons checks which favicon, apple-touch-icon and other site icons a given URL actually serves. This page covers how to use the tool, answers to common questions, known limitations, and how to reach us.

Getting started

Go to the Tabicons homepage.
Paste a full URL (including https://) into the input box — e.g. https://example.com.
Click Check or press Enter.
Tabicons fetches the page's <head>, collects every icon it declares, then requests each icon and reports what came back.
Results appear in three sections:
- Summary — at-a-glance: whether the browser tab, Google search, and iOS home screen have an icon to use.
- Declared Icons — every <link> tag the page explicitly declares (rel, href, sizes, type), with fetch results.
- Convention Paths — /favicon.ico and /apple-touch-icon.png at the site root, checked even if the page does not declare them.

Frequently asked questions

What does each badge mean?

Present — the icon file exists at that URL and returned content with reasonable dimensions.

Missing — the icon URL returned a 404 or equivalent error; no file was served.

Wrong format — the icon claimed to be one format (e.g. image/png) but the server returned a different one (e.g. image/jpeg).

Error — the server returned an error status or the request timed out.

What is the difference between "Declared Icons" and "Convention Paths"?

A page can declare icons in its <head> using <link rel="icon"> tags — those show up in Declared Icons. But browsers, search engines and iOS also request /favicon.ico and /apple-touch-icon.png from the site root without the page declaring them. Tabicons checks these convention paths separately so you can see whether the root fallback exists even if the page doesn't reference it.

My favicon shows "Present" but the browser tab still shows a blank icon. Why?

A few reasons this can happen:

Cache — your browser has an old cached version. Try a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R) or clear your browser cache for that site.
Root fallback — even if a declared icon is present, some browsers also check /favicon.ico at the root. If that's missing, the browser may fall back to a blank icon. Check the Convention Paths section.
Format mismatch — the icon may claim a format your browser does not support. Check if it shows "Wrong format". SVG favicons are now widely supported, but older browsers may ignore them.
No sizes attribute — browsers use the sizes attribute to pick the right icon size. If no sizes is declared, some browsers default to 32×32 and may ignore a larger icon.

Does Tabicons store the URLs I check?

No. Submitted URLs are processed in memory during the request and discarded immediately after the response is sent. The server does not log, cache, or persist any submitted URLs. There is no database, no write log, and no analytics tracking. See the privacy page for full details.

Why do I get a "Network error" when I check a URL?

Tabicons fetches the target URL and its icons from our server, not from your browser. If the target server is unreachable, slow, or blocks our server's IP, the request may fail. Try:

Confirm the URL is correct and includes https://.
Test the URL in your browser first to confirm the site is up.
If the site is behind a firewall or bot-blocking service (Cloudflare, etc.), it may block our server's requests. Try using the site's own URL directly in your browser and check the page source for <link rel="icon"> tags manually.

What icon formats does Tabicons check?

Tabicons will attempt to fetch any icon referenced by a <link> tag with rel="icon", rel="apple-touch-icon", rel="mask-icon", or similar icon-related rel values. It reports the actual Content-Type and pixel dimensions of whatever the server returns. Common formats include SVG, PNG, ICO, JPEG, and GIF. The tool does not validate that the icon is well-formed or visually appropriate — it only reports whether the file exists and what format it is.

Tabicons says an icon is "Present" but it looks wrong. What gives?

"Present" means the icon URL returned an HTTP 200 and the response has detectable dimensions. Tabicon does not render or visually inspect icons. An icon can exist as a file but be corrupted, be the wrong shape, have incorrect padding, or simply be a default favicon the CMS served. Check the file yourself by visiting the icon URL directly in your browser.

Known limitations

No icon generation or design. Tabicons is a diagnostic tool only. It does not create, edit, suggest, or optimise icons. If you need a favicon designed, use a dedicated design tool or service.

No monitoring over time. Every check is a single snapshot of one URL at one moment. Tabicons does not track changes, send alerts, or provide historical reports. If you need ongoing monitoring, download a local copy of the results or use a dedicated uptime/asset monitor.

No batch or bulk checking. One URL per request. There is no API, no CSV upload, no programmatic access. Each check must be submitted individually through the web interface.

No accounts or active paid tiers. Tabicons is free with no sign-up required. There is no payment processor connected, so no subscription, billing, or invoicing is available. A paid Pro tier has been proposed (see pricing page) but is not yet approved or built. No money can be paid for any Tabicons plan today. When and if paid features are introduced, they will be announced on the homepage and terms page.

Results depend on the target server. A "Present" result reflects the server's response at the time of the check. It does not guarantee that a specific browser, crawler, or device will use that icon. CDN caches, content negotiation, and client-specific fallbacks are not tested.

Contact

Tabicons is provided as-is. The best way to report a bug, ask a question, or suggest a feature is through the GitHub repository:

Bug reports & feature requests

github.com/agen2ic/tabicons/issues

Please include the URL you checked, what you expected, and what Tabicons reported. For feature requests, describe the use case — this helps the maintainers prioritise.

Email support is not currently available. If you have a sensitive security concern, please open a GitHub issue with the "security" label or contact the repository maintainers through GitHub directly.

For questions about billing, legal terms, or partnership licensing — once those exist — they will be handled by the project owner. For now, Tabicons has no payment processor, no legal entity, and no paid tiers. See the terms of service for what is planned.