Change a favicon in Blogger
How to change a Blogger favicon, prepare a small square icon from vector logo artwork, and know when an SVG favicon needs a theme edit instead.
Contents
The short answer
You change a Blogger favicon in the blog dashboard. Open Settings, find the Favicon option in the general settings, upload a small square image file and save. Blogger then serves that image as the tab icon for the blog. The image you upload is a raster file, not your editable vector logo. The real design work is turning a vector mark into a tiny square icon that still reads clearly at very small sizes.
This guide covers the favicon itself: the small icon in browser tabs, bookmarks and some history lists. It does not cover the header logo or image that appears inside the blog layout. Blogger manages that separately through the theme and layout settings.
Steps in the Blogger dashboard
- Sign in to Blogger and select the blog you want to change.
- Open Settings from the left-hand menu.
- In the general section, choose Favicon.
- Upload your prepared icon file and confirm or save.
- Open the blog in a private window or a different browser to check the new icon.
Menu labels and their order have changed across Blogger interface updates. If your dashboard looks different, look for Favicon among the blog-level settings, not inside the theme designer. Blogger shows its accepted file types and size limit in the upload dialog. No specific figures were confirmed for this article, so follow what the dialog tells you.
Preparing the icon from vector logo artwork
A favicon is displayed at a tiny size, often a few dozen pixels or less. A full horizontal logo with a wordmark usually becomes an unreadable smudge at that size. The usual approach is to use a simplified part of the brand: a symbol, monogram or single letter, placed in a square canvas.
- Start from the vector master file, such as SVG, AI, EPS or vector PDF, so edges stay sharp when you export.
- Crop to a square artboard and remove fine details, thin strokes and small text that will disappear at icon size.
- Check contrast against both light and dark browser tabs. A transparent background can vanish on dark themes, so a solid background shape is sometimes the safer choice.
- Export a square raster version, commonly PNG, at a size larger than the display size so browsers can scale it down cleanly.
- View the exported file at actual tab size before uploading, and simplify further if the shape blurs.
Is your source file really vector?
A file extension alone does not prove that a logo contains editable vector paths. An SVG, EPS or PDF can simply wrap an embedded raster image, and many logo downloads are raster previews of the real artwork. If you open the file in a vector editor and find only a single image object instead of shapes and paths, scaling and simplifying it will not give you the crisp result vector artwork would. In that case, get the original vector master from the designer or brand owner, or redraw the mark.
Can Blogger use an SVG favicon?
The dashboard favicon upload is designed for standard image files. Whether it accepts SVG directly was not confirmed for this article. The dependable route is to upload a raster export. If you specifically want an SVG favicon, some site owners add their own icon link tag in the theme's HTML head section through Theme, then Edit HTML. This needs the SVG to be hosted at a stable public location. Blogger does not provide general-purpose file hosting for that, and a manual tag can conflict with or be overridden by the favicon Blogger outputs automatically.
<!-- Example only: placed inside <head> in the Blogger theme HTML -->
<link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="YOUR-HOSTED-ICON.svg">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="YOUR-HOSTED-ICON.png"></link>If you edit the theme, back it up first and keep a raster fallback, since browser support for SVG favicons varies. For most Blogger sites, uploading a well-prepared PNG through the dashboard is simpler and less fragile.
If the old icon keeps appearing
Browsers cache favicons aggressively, so the previous icon can remain visible after a successful upload. Check in a private window, another browser or another device before assuming the change failed. Search results and bookmarks can take longer to update, because they depend on when those services next fetch the icon.
Rights to the logo
Being able to download a logo file does not mean you may modify it or use it as your blog's icon. Cropping, simplifying or recoloring artwork changes it. Fonts in a wordmark and the trademark itself may carry separate restrictions. Use a mark you own or have permission to adapt.
Gaps in this guide
No confirmed details were available on Blogger's current file-size limit, the exact list of accepted formats, or the precise dashboard labels. Treat the upload dialog and Blogger's own help pages as the authority on those points.