WordPress Favicon Not Showing? Here's the Fix
WordPress does not serve a favicon from a file you drop in the theme. It prints the icon tags from one Site Icon setting, and a blank tab almost always means that setting was never applied, or a theme is fighting it.
The Site Icon setting owns the favicon
Set an image as the Site Icon and core crops it, generates the sizes, and prints the icon markup into every front-end page. No plugin, no link tags by hand. If you never set one, nothing is printed and the tab stays blank.
The setting hides in different places by theme. On a classic theme it's Appearance, then Customize, then Site Identity. Block themes drop the Customizer, so it moves to the site editor or general settings. Searching the admin for "Site Icon" is faster than hunting menus.
Get the icon printing
- 1
Set the Site Icon at 512×512 or larger
WordPress rejects smaller images because the largest size it generates is bigger than a tab icon. Crop to the square you want. Nothing near the edges survives.
- 2
View source and find the cropped- link
A correct setup prints a link whose filename starts with cropped-. If that tag is there, the icon is set and any blank tab is a cache; if it isn't, the setting didn't take.
- 3
Check the theme isn't overriding it
A theme that hardcodes its own icon tag will fight core. If the wrong icon shows, count the rel=icon tags in the source. The browser takes the last one it understands.
WordPress favicon not showing: FAQ
Why is my WordPress favicon not showing?
The Site Icon almost certainly isn't set, or a theme is overriding it. View source: if there's no link with a cropped- filename, set the Site Icon under Site Identity. If there is one but the wrong icon shows, a theme or plugin is injecting a competing tag.
Where do I set the WordPress favicon?
Appearance → Customize → Site Identity on a classic theme; the site editor or general settings on a block theme. Searching the admin for "Site Icon" jumps you straight there. Upload a square image of at least 512×512.
Does uploading favicon.ico to my theme work?
No. Theme files aren't served at the domain root, so a favicon.ico in the theme folder isn't reachable at /favicon.ico and disappears on the next theme update. Use the Site Icon setting instead.