Google has updated its favicon documentation for Google Search to explicitly list the file formats it supports. The documentation now states: "Google Search supports the following favicon file formats: BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM, and TIFF."
Notably, SVG is absent from the supported list.
What changed
The previous version of the documentation linked to an external reference for supported formats. Google said that reference "evolved over time and caused ambiguity about which favicon file formats are actually supported in Google Search." The update replaces that indirect reference with an explicit, inline list.
Google clarified that the actual set of supported formats has not changed. "Google Search's supported file formats haven't changed; this update explicitly lists them in the documentation," the company said in a statement provided to press.
Details and availability
The documentation applies to organic search results. Favicons appear alongside a site's listing in Google Search when the following conditions are met:
- The favicon is linked from the homepage using a
<link rel="icon">tag (Google also supportsshortcut icon,apple-touch-icon, andapple-touch-icon-precomposed). - The favicon is a square with at least 1:1 aspect ratio and a minimum size of 8x8 pixels. Google recommends 48x48 pixels or larger.
- Googlebot-Image can crawl the favicon file and Googlebot can crawl the homepage.
- The favicon URL is stable and not changed frequently.
- The favicon is visually representative of the site's brand and does not contain inappropriate imagery.
Google Search displays only one favicon per hostname. Subdomains can have separate favicons, but subdirectories share the domain-level favicon.
The exclusion of SVG from the supported formats list means that sites using SVG-only favicons should provide an alternative in one of the listed pixel-based formats. Glenn Gabe, a search industry consultant, confirmed after reaching out to Google that SVG is intentionally not in the supported list and recommended that sites using SVG favicons switch to a pixel-based format or provide alternate versions.
Context
The documentation update follows a favicon bug in Google Search that lasted approximately one week in mid-August 2026. During that period, many site owners reported their favicons disappearing from search results. Google confirmed the bug and worked on a fix. The improved documentation appears to be part of Google's follow-up to reduce confusion about favicon requirements.
Favicons remain one of the most common technical issues that site owners encounter in Google Search. The previous documentation's reliance on an evolving external reference created uncertainty about which formats would work reliably.
What has not been confirmed
Google did not provide a timeline for when SVG support might be added, if at all. The documentation update does not address whether the favicon bug from earlier in August has been fully resolved for all affected sites, though Google's Search Status Dashboard shows all services as available as of August 28.
