---
title: How Browsers Cache Favicons
description: Browsers cache favicons harder and longer than most assets, and separately from the page. Why they're so sticky, and how to force a favicon to refresh.
canonical: https://favicontools.com/glossary/favicon-caching
---

# How Browsers Cache Favicons

Browsers cache favicons aggressively and store them separately from the page's own cache, often keeping an icon for days regardless of a normal reload. That's why a changed favicon so often keeps showing the old image. The reliable way to force a refresh is to change the icon's URL (usually a version query string like /favicon.ico?v=2) and hard-refresh.

## Why favicons are so sticky

Favicons get special treatment. Browsers keep them in a store separate from the normal HTTP cache, hold them with a long lifetime, and don't necessarily drop them on an ordinary reload. Some keep a profile-level favicon database that survives across sessions. A CDN in front of your site adds a second cache on top.

The upshot is that editing the icon file in place is often invisible: the browser already has an icon for that URL and sees no reason to ask again. It's keyed on the URL, so the fix is to change the URL, not just the bytes behind it.

## Force a fresh favicon

1. **Change the URL** — Append a version query string (/favicon.ico?v=2) so the browser treats it as a new resource and fetches it. Bump the number on each change.
2. **Hard-refresh or use a private window** — Cmd+Shift+R / Ctrl+F5, or a fresh private window, bypasses the browser's stored copy.
3. **Purge any CDN** — If a CDN fronts the site, invalidate the favicon path so edge nodes stop serving the old file before the browser ever sees it.

> **Change the URL, not just the file:** Replacing favicon.ico with new bytes at the same path frequently does nothing, because the browser matches on the URL. A version query string is what actually invalidates it.

## Favicon caching FAQ

### Why won't my favicon update?

The browser is serving a cached copy from its separate favicon store, or a CDN is handing out the old file. Change the icon URL with a version query string and hard-refresh in a private window.

### How do I clear the favicon cache?

There's no reliable per-icon clear button, so change the URL instead (/favicon.ico?v=2), which sidesteps the cache entirely. Failing that, a private window or a different browser profile has no stored icon.

### Does favicon caching differ between browsers?

Yes. Each browser, and often each profile, keeps its own favicon store with its own lifetime, which is why an icon can look updated in one browser and stale in another at the same time.