How long does Google take to update a changed favicon in search results?
You control the favicon file and setup; you cannot set Google's update deadline.
Site owners report waits ranging from weeks to months. That is not an official turnaround time or a prediction for your site.
The browser tab may already show your new icon. Google Search can still show the old one.
Two things are going on here. I can check whether the site is actually serving the right icon.
When does Google pick it up? I honestly can't give you a date.
Start with Google's instructions
Google tells you to put the favicon declaration in the homepage header. It supports several rel values, so “Google only reads rel=icon” is too narrow.
Its current guidelines require a square image at least 8×8px and recommend dimensions larger than 48×48px. Supported formats are BMP, GIF, ICO, PNG, JPEG, PPM, and TIFF. The page does not require multiples of 48.
Keep the icon URL stable. Allow crawling of the homepage and icon. Meeting the guidelines still does not guarantee that Google will display it.
Source: Google Search Central's favicon documentation, checked November 4, 2026 and rechecked November 5, 2026.
Weeks to months is what owners report
Owners in this r/webdev discussion described waits lasting weeks or months. Some reported seeing the new icon elsewhere while Google Search still showed the previous version.
This r/SEO discussion contains similar reports.
Can those experiences tell you when yours will update? No. The reports were not controlled tests, and they cannot establish which attempted fix caused a change.
I fixed the setup, then checked it again
On November 4, 2026, I checked SVGtopix using local headless Chrome 156.0.8078.80. The homepage and an article page returned HTTP 200 with no icon-link declaration. A direct request to /favicon.ico returned HTTP 404 and HTML rather than an ICO.
The control file, wide.ico, contained entries at 16×16, 24×24, 32×32, 48×48, 64×64, 128×128, and 256×256. It returned HTTP 200 with Content-Type image/vnd.microsoft.icon, but the homepage did not declare that sample as its favicon.
Before the fix, my conclusion was:
“I wouldn't start counting the waiting time yet. The ICO file opens fine, but the homepage doesn't actually point to it. That's still a setup problem on my side — it's not Google being slow yet.”
On November 5, 2026, I repeated the homepage and root-icon requests before changing anything. The missing declaration and HTML 404 were still reproducible.
I created an original square green arrow icon, exported it through the PNG to ICO converter, and saved the result at /favicon.ico. I added this declaration to the homepage head:
<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
The table records the new before-and-after checks. Times are UTC, from the local browser run records. Both checks used headless Chrome 156.0.8078.80.
| Check | Before: November 5, 2026, 07:05 UTC | After: November 5, 2026, 07:06 UTC |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage response | HTTP 200 | HTTP 200 |
| Homepage declaration | None found | rel="icon"; href="/favicon.ico"; type="image/x-icon" |
| Requested icon URL | https://svgtopix.com/favicon.ico | https://svgtopix.com/favicon.ico |
| Icon response | HTTP 404 | HTTP 200 |
| Content-Type | text/html; charset=utf-8 | image/vnd.microsoft.icon |
| ICO header | Absent | Present |
| Actual dimensions | Not applicable: HTML response | 16×16, 24×24, 32×32, 48×48, 64×64, 128×128, 256×256 |
| Embedded image check | No ICO to inspect | Each entry contained a PNG with matching dimensions |
The root address now serves the actual ICO. It contains square images, including dimensions larger than 48×48px. It is not a renamed PNG or a declaration pointing to the deep-path test sample.
These were direct browser requests and file checks. They did not reproduce a Googlebot visit or establish when Google Search refreshed its icon. The repair and the search-result update are separate observations.
Use the PNG to ICO converter to prepare the file. Then check the selected sizes inside the saved ICO. Neither check replaces inspecting the homepage declaration.
Before you wait
- Inspect the homepage header. Confirm its favicon declaration points to the replacement you intend to use.
- Request that exact image URL. Check the response, actual format, and square dimensions against Google's current guidelines.
- Check that the homepage and icon are crawlable. Your browser loading them does not prove Googlebot access.
- After fixing setup issues, request homepage indexing through Search Console's URL Inspection tool.
- Record the date, declaration, image response, and search-result appearance. Monitor the result without promising a completion date.
My record starts with the repair
I added the homepage declaration and the root ICO file on November 5, 2026. The first successful public check was at 07:06 UTC, or 15:06 in Shanghai.
November 5 is observation day 0. The homepage declaration and file response passed my checks. Google's search-result icon was not checked after the repair, so there is no verified count of days still showing the old icon.
I recorded what changed and when. That gives me something concrete to review instead of changing the setup again with no idea why.
Clearing your browser cache does not show that Google Search has refreshed its icon.