We've covered most of the basics of starting a blog from scratch. Hopefully you are happily blogging along! As you'll find, there will always be tweaks and improvements you can make to your blog. Installing a favicon is one.
What is a favicon?
It's a little logo or image that shows up with your blog around the web. It's probably most commonly seen in a browser like so:
Click for a larger view.
Why do I want a favicon?
Well, a favicon is by no means necessary, however it enhances your branding and your professionalism.
How do I get a favicon?
First, you make an image 16×16 pixels to be used as your favicon. Save your image as favicon.ico and install it on your server.
How do I create a favicon?
You could use an image-editing application like Photoshop or Gimp to create a favicon of your own, however, learning either for this purpose would be overkill.
You could also use one of the many favicon generators online to make your own, like this one.
But here's my simple (and perhaps unconvential) method, using Picnik.
Update: Sadly, Picnik is going away, however I'll leave this video tutorial up since the techniques for creating a favicon can be duplicated in other similar programs. Check out this post for alternatives to Picnik.
Can't see the video? Watch it here.
How do I get my favicon to show up online?
Make sure your 16×16 pixel image is named favicon.ico. Simply rename your image from, say, favicon.jpg to favicon.ico.
Then, upload the favicon.ico file to your server using the method I described in How to Access Your File Manager (or via FTP). You want to upload the file to the first level of your blog's directory:
Click for a larger view.
That's it!
If you follow the instructions, note that you may have to wait a while for it to show up. It's gotta make its way around the web.
Are you using Genesis?
If you're using Genesis for our theme (I am!), there's another step to take. Here's how to install a favicon in Genesis.
Disclaimer: The links in this post are my affiliate links. My disclosure policy is here.
Here at BloggingWithAmy you'll find tips, tools & tutorials about blogging and websites. In plain English. Want to 
Is there a way to do this using Blogger?
I haven't tested this method myself, but you might try this tutorial.
Here is the website where I found my favicon! You can create your own or search for one that has already been created – they even host the image for you!
http://www.favicon.cc/
I am also on Blogger – Here is the tutorial I used to change my favicon!
http://newbloggingtipz.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-change-your-blogger-logo.html
It totally worked! Thanks.
Yay!
Hi Amy,
Does this take a while to show up after uploading to the file manager?
If you can't see it, try emptying your cache.
I cleared my cache in hopes it would appear. I uploaded the favicon to my hosting site correctly. Do I need to do something from WP to make it show up?
Oh, there it is. It took some time to appear. Thanks Amy~
Favicon… nice to know, haha.
This how much of a novice I am with working with this…
The file manager is the bluehost.com???? Feel like I'm getting a little crazy trying to figure all of this out!!!
Duh! found the file manager! However– I made the favicon according to directions and using a photo. Successfully uploaded it to the file manager wp-content
cleared the cache, and it still does not show up (I did this yesterday around 2p). Can anyone suggest what to do? …and how?
YAY I actually did this! Thanks Amy! You are making me feel like I know what I am doing
LOL!
Thank you so much for this AMAZING blog! Each step has been so easy and extremely helpful. My blog is up and running thanks to you!
Amy,
I just worked for awhile making my favicon and I got it uploaded to bluehost. However, it is still not showing up and I have tried to reload the page and clear the cache.
I am not sure if I did something really wrong:
1. when I uploaded the favicon, the directory in bluehost was: /public_html. Did I put it in the right place? I did see the other favicon there and I see mine now.
2. I deleted the old one – is this what is causing the problem? I can't sort out why, but it is still not showing up. How can something that isn't there anymore keep showing up?
Ah….technology?
Give it a while.
Hi Amy,
Thanks SO much for this tutorial, I tried it and it worked! Amazing!
I do have a question, however. How do I get my favicon to show up instead of the Bluehost favicon next to my site title in places like Blogger's Blog List? Thanks in advance!
Looks like it's working for me! (Takes a while sometimes.)
Hmmm… yes, I installed mine 2 months ago, it works on my website, but not on blogger blog lists. Trying to figure out where else I need to install it.
When you post a response, your picture always appears next to it. Is that a favicon too? Or is that something else? Do you have a tutorial for that?
When I "renamed" my favicon.jpg, it now says "favicon.ico.jpg." Am I doing something wrong? How do I get rid of the jpg, or do I need to?
I figured out how to rename it correctly! I used your method for cropping and resizing the photo in Picnik, then uploaded it to http://www.favicon.cc/, then saved it again to my desktop.
I'm glad to hear your videos are working again!
Way to go!
So I started watching this video yesterday, and didn't have time to finish. Now I'm here to watch it and You Tube says the account has been terminated. Say it ain't so!
Christy, I'm so glad you left this comment as it is what alerted me to the problem! It led to a 2-day what-will-YouTube-do but alas, all is well and the videos are back up. Yay! They never told me why they pulled my videos in the first place, so not sure what happened, but it's good to go now. Thanks so much!
What a ride!
I'm excited to watch the video now! Glad it all got worked out.
Like Sandy above, It's been over 24 hours and my favicon is still not showing up. You mentioned something about clearing my cache? How do I do that? Would that help?
Well, it took 48 hours or so to show up, but my favicon is working! Maybe that will give some hope to others whose favicons are taking their good ole time.
Thanks for everything Amy…you're a lifesaver! My husband's been watching over my shoulder this past month, and now he's thinking he might create a fantasy sports blog using your instructions.
me again…I'm finally able to get back to working on the favicon. Question: I renamed my favicon file, but it's saving in my computer as favicon.ico.jpeg. Will that still work, or do I need to find a way to save it without the jpeg? It's not showing up on my site and I'm wondering if that's why.
Hi Amy! I've been loving your website. I followed these directions to install a favicon, but it only shows up on my mobile browser (smart phone, Android), and not my desktop computer's browser (Internet Explorer). Any insight?
Sometimes it takes a while. Is it working now?
I installed it about a week ago…so I'm thinking it isn't going to appear? Does it show for you? Maybe my personal computer is just moody?
I see this.
Huh. Guess my computer is just moody. Go figure
Thanks Amy!
Hi Amy,
I have been trying to add a favicon according to your directions. So far, it has not worked. Then, I found the directions under Altahualpa about how to "add a favicon." It seems, that in Internet Explorer, you are not able to add your own image and simply rename it with .ico. Instead it suggests software to convert the jpeg to an ico file. After searching, I found a site that woud do this without a download, and I thought I followed all the directions in the Altahualpa set up, but still no favicon. After spending this much time on it, I'm rather determined to make it happen. If you have any other idea of where I may have gone wrong, I would appreciate your thoughts.
Also, as one other person asked, how did you get your face to appear next to all your comments. Is that another favicon?
I feel like I'm in over my head, but I won't quit now that I've got this far. Thanks again for your very thorough directions and tutorials. I have really appreciate them, and I'm learning so much.
Hi Amy- I uploaded the favicon.ico to my root directory 48 hours ago, and still nothing. Any suggestions?
Hmmm…you might look through your theme files and see if there are any other favicon.ico files in there that might override the one you uploaded.
Argh! What am I doing wrong? I followed the instructions and it isn't showing up. I cleared my cache. Still nothing. I waited 24 hours. Still nothing. What am I missing?
Fire up FTP, locate "favicon.ico" and "View" it. If it's the Atahualpa default favicon, upload your new one to that very spot and make sure you indicate that you do want to rewrite that file. I hope that makes sense.
Ok, so I did that and it shows my favicon. I noticed that my favicon (a piggybank) shows up on the tab when I'm in WordPress and editing or adding a post. But if I just go to my website, http://www.thisissavvylicious.com, it shows the generic Atahualpa favicon?
Try putting your favicon file in both the root directory as well as the image files within your theme files (I hope that's not too confusing).
Yay! Finally! The Atahualpa favicon was called new-favicon.ico. I was not looking for that.
Woot!
here i’m found something may be can help..
http://graphicriver.net/item/favicon-generator-action/741740
Superb blog! Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers? I'm planning to start my own site soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I'm completely overwhelmed .. Any recommendations? Bless you!
I don't recommend starting with a free platform unless your budget doesn't allow $10 a month. First, I'd start your own website to use as your online "home" and hub for your writing services/portfolio, etc. I walk through the steps of starting your own blog or website here. Also, check out this post about How to Make Money Writing.
Hey Amy! My favicon shows up whenever I am in my dashboard but not while on my home page. Is there a reason for this? What do you see whenever you go to my site?