How to refresh a favicon when cache gets in the way
A common situation: you replaced favicon files, but browsers or search engines keep showing the previous icon.
1) Browser cache
- Test in a private window (Incognito).
- Hard refresh (Ctrl+F5) or clear cache for the domain.
- Open /favicon.ico and /favicon.svg directly to confirm they updated.
2) Search engine cache
- Search engines update favicons with delay — that’s normal.
- Stable URLs + no 404s + proper PNG sizes are the key.
Avoid random filenames
If you constantly change the URL, re-caching takes longer.
FAQ
Does adding ?v=123 help?
Sometimes for browsers. Not all favicon tags handle query params the same way.
Should I change <link rel="icon"> when updating?
Prefer stable links. Update the files at the same paths instead.