Favicon Presence Checker
Inspect pasted HTML for favicon, apple touch icon and manifest declarations.
Overview
The Favicon Presence Checker parses pasted HTML and reports which favicon, Apple touch icon, MS tile, and web app manifest declarations are present, what rel, sizes, and type attributes they carry, and whether the URLs they reference look absolute or relative. It does not fetch the linked files — it audits the HTML head only.
Useful for developers and SEO practitioners doing a quick sanity check on a page's icon coverage, especially when learning how to declare favicons for every platform or how to audit favicon links in HTML. Reach for it before a site launch, after a redesign, or when troubleshooting why a browser tab shows a generic icon.
How it works
Browsers and platforms pick icons from a set of declarations in <head>: <link rel="icon"> (HTML5 standard), <link rel="apple-touch-icon"> (iOS), <link rel="manifest"> (PWA), <meta name="msapplication-TileImage"> (legacy Windows). Each rel="icon" can specify sizes and type so browsers pick the best match.
The checker walks the head, lists every declaration with its attributes, and flags common omissions: no apple-touch-icon (iOS shows a screenshot of the page instead), no manifest (no install-to-home-screen support), missing sizes attribute (browsers pick the wrong icon at high DPI).
Examples
- A modern site shows a 32x32 PNG, a 180x180 apple-touch-icon, an SVG icon for resolution independence, and a manifest reference.
- Output reports
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/favicon-32.png">present. - A site missing
apple-touch-iconis flagged with a recommendation to add a 180x180 PNG. - Output catches a
manifesthref that points to a relative path with no leading slash — a common breakage when pages live below the root.
FAQ
Does the tool fetch the favicon file?
No, it only inspects the HTML. Use the network tab or a broken-link checker to confirm the files exist at the linked URLs.
Do I still need a /favicon.ico in the root?
Most modern browsers honour <link rel="icon"> declarations, but some legacy tools and feed readers still request /favicon.ico directly. Serving one in the root is cheap insurance.
What sizes should I include?
At minimum: 32x32 (browser tab), 180x180 (Apple touch icon), and an SVG if your brand mark is vector. A manifest with 192x192 and 512x512 covers PWA install.
Why does my icon look fuzzy on retina screens?
A 16x16 icon scaled to 32 looks fuzzy. Always provide a 2x or larger source — or better, an SVG icon that resolution-scales for free.