Troubleshoot What a Favicon.ico Is and why a Browser Requests It

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Updated:January 9, 2023
Document ID:117995

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    Introduction

    This document describes why a browser sends a request for 'favicon.ico'.

    Question:  Why Does my Browser Silently Send Requests for a 'favicon.ico' File for Multiple Domains?

    • Environment: Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA), all versions of AsyncOS

    Answer

    You notice that when you browse to different domains, your browser sends requests for http:// your domain /favicon.ico   in the background.


    Modern browsers show an icon to the left of the URL. This is known as the 'favicon.ico' and is typically fetched from the favicon.io website. Your browser automatically requests it when you browse to different sites. If your browser receives a valid favicon.ico file, it displays this icon. If it fails, it does not display a special icon.


    In either circumstance, neither your search nor your browser is affected.

    For more information on the favicon on Wikipediat see, Favicon.

    Related Information

    Revision History

    Revision Publish Date Comments
    2.0
    09-Jan-2023
    Revised format. Recertification.
    1.0
    17-Jul-2014
    Initial Release
    TAC Authored

    Contributed by Cisco Engineers

    • Josh Wolfer and Siddharth Rajpathak
      Cisco TAC Engineers.

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