Favicon issues in Bing search results and how to fix them

Fix favicon issues in Bing search results with our tips.

A favicon, which is short for favorite icon, is a small icon that appears in the browser tab, address bar, bookmarks, and search results. Websites are often recognized and identified by their favicons. This article describes how to fix the problem of your favicon not appearing (or not updating) in Bing search results.

One of the most common issues with Bing search results is the failure to display an updated (or any) site favicon. There is even a popular post on the Microsoft Community forum titled The site’s favicon is not displayed in Bing search results.

Several factors can cause your favicon to be missing from Bing search results. Below is a structured troubleshooting guide, followed by additional best practices and verification tips.

Troubleshooting tips

Ensure the favicon has a valid format and size

The website must have a valid favicon file in .ico, .png, or .svg format, and it must be at least 16×16 pixels. Bing prefers 32×32 or larger for high-resolution displays. Use Favicon checker to validate format and size.

We recommend using SVG format where possible, as it scales perfectly on all devices. Use SVG Favicon Generator for generating favicons in SVG format. If using PNG, provide multiple sizes (e.g., 16×16, 32×32, 180×180 for Apple devices).

Ensure the favicon has a correct, accessible URL location

Place the favicon in your site’s root directory (e.g., https://example.com/favicon.ico). Bing automatically checks this location even if no <link> tag is present. However, for best results, explicitly declare it in your HTML.

Correct implementation in the HTML code (best practice)

The presence of a favicon is indicated by a <link> element in the HTML head section. Use the following modern, cross-browser implementation:

<link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml" href="/favicon.svg">
<link rel="alternate icon" type="image/png" href="/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32">
<link rel="alternate icon" type="image/png" href="/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-touch-icon.png">

Do favicons belong in sitemaps?

Favicons are typically small icons associated with a webpage and are not considered indexable content by search engines. Including them in a sitemap does not help with favicon display in search results.

While Bing previously suggested including the favicon URL in the sitemap, this advice is now outdated. Many websites without favicon entries in their sitemaps still display favicons correctly. In fact, including non-indexable resources like favicons in your sitemap can dilute the effectiveness of your sitemap by adding noise.

Best practice: Keep your sitemap focused on indexable content pages (HTML, PDF, etc.). Do not include favicon URLs.

Ensure the favicon file is not blocked by robots.txt or server config

Check that your robots.txt file does not disallow access to the favicon file. For example, avoid lines like:

Disallow: /favicon.ico

Also verify that your server serves the favicon with a correct Content-Type header (e.g., image/x-icon for ICO, image/png for PNG, image/svg+xml for SVG).

Bing’s crawler may not have updated its index yet

Bing can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks to refresh favicons. You can speed this up by:

• Submitting your sitemap via Bing Webmaster Tools.
• Using the URL inspection tool in Bing Webmaster Tools to request re-crawling of your homepage.
• Clearing your browser cache and checking from a different network or device (Bing may serve cached results).

Contact Bing Webmaster Support (when all else fails)

If none of the above works, the most reliable method is to contact Bing Webmaster Support directly. This helped us resolve persistent favicon issues.

Updated steps to contact support:

• Go to the Support for webmasters and site owners page.
• Locate the link Raise support request. Note that you must be signed in with a Microsoft, Google, or Facebook account.
• On the support form:
  • For Choose the website you need help with: select your verified site.
  • For What type of problem do you have?: select Bad Search Result.
  • For What do you need help with?: select Other, then write a clear message including:
    • Your domain name.
    • The exact URL of your favicon (e.g., https://example.com/favicon.ico).
    • Screenshots showing the missing or wrong favicon in Bing results.
    • A screenshot of your correct favicon as seen in browser tab.

Handy tools and verification tips

View favicon via Chrome’s internal tool

In Google Chrome, enter chrome://favicon/ followed by your website URL in the address bar to see what favicon Chrome has cached.

Example: chrome://favicon/https://www.sitelint.com

Use dedicated favicon checkers

Verify your favicon implementation with these free tools:

• RealFaviconGenerator Favicon Checker – comprehensive analysis.
• Toolsaday Favicon Checker – quick and simple.

Additional best practices

Use absolute URLs for favicons

Instead of relative paths like /favicon.ico, consider using absolute URLs in your <link> tags to avoid any crawling ambiguity:

<link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="https://example.com/favicon.ico">

Serve your favicon over HTTPS

If your site uses HTTPS, ensure the favicon is also served over HTTPS. Mixed content warnings can sometimes block crawlers.

Be patient after making changes

After fixing any of the above issues, it may take 1 to 4 weeks for Bing to fully update its favicon across all regions. Use Bing Webmaster Tools to monitor crawl activity.

Conclusion

Favicon issues in Bing search results are common but usually fixable. Start by ensuring correct format and HTML implementation, verify your robots.txt doesn’t block access, then use Bing Webmaster Tools to request updates. If problems persist, contact Bing Support with clear evidence. With patience and the steps above, your favicon should appear correctly.