TTF to ICO Converter

Create Windows icon files from TrueType font glyphs online for free

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Glyph to Icon

Turn any TTF character or symbol into a polished ICO icon — perfect for creating custom favicons, toolbar buttons, and desktop shortcuts.

Private Conversion

Your font data stays secure — uploaded TTF fonts are deleted immediately, and ICO outputs are purged from servers within 24 hours.

No Installation Needed

Create ICO icons from TTF glyphs directly in your browser. No icon editors or font tools required on your system.

How to convert TTF to ICO

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose ico or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your ico file right afterwards

About formats

TTF (TrueType Font) is a scalable outline font format developed by Apple Computer in the late 1980s and first shipped with Mac System 7 on May 13, 1991. Microsoft licensed the technology shortly after and included TrueType support in Windows 3.1 in 1992, establishing it as the dominant desktop font technology for over a decade. TrueType describes glyph shapes using quadratic Bezier splines — simpler mathematically than the cubic Bezier curves in PostScript fonts — stored alongside a powerful instruction set (the "hinting" language) that controls exactly how outlines are rasterized at each pixel size. This instruction-based hinting gives type designers pixel-level control over rendering at small sizes on low-resolution screens, producing exceptionally crisp text. The format stores all font data — outlines, metrics, kerning, naming, and hinting — in a single file organized as a directory of tagged data tables. One advantage is universal platform support: TTF files render natively on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and virtually every operating system and web browser without conversion or plugins. The byte-code hinting system is another distinctive strength, enabling screen rendering quality that remained superior to competing technologies until high-DPI displays reduced the importance of pixel-level optimization. TrueType's table-based architecture also proved remarkably extensible, serving as the structural foundation for the OpenType specification that added advanced typographic features and PostScript outline support on top of the TrueType container.
Developer: Apple Computer
Initial release: May 13, 1991
ICO is the icon file format for Microsoft Windows, introduced with Windows 1.0 in 1985 and serving as the standard container for application icons, file type icons, and shortcut icons throughout the Windows ecosystem. An ICO file bundles multiple image variants within a single container — each at different sizes (16x16, 32x32, 48x48, 256x256, and others) and color depths (4-bit, 8-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit with alpha) — allowing Windows to select the most appropriate image for each display context, from tiny taskbar buttons to large desktop icons. The container structure consists of an ICONDIR header, an array of ICONDIRENTRY records describing each variant, and the image data itself. Since Windows Vista, ICO files support embedded PNG-compressed images for the larger sizes (typically 256x256), dramatically reducing file size while maintaining quality with full alpha transparency. One advantage is automatic size adaptation — Windows pulls the optimal resolution from the ICO container for each context (Explorer list view, desktop tile, Alt-Tab preview), ensuring crisp display without the application managing separate image files. The format's operating system-level integration is another core strength: ICO files serve as the identity mechanism for executables, file associations, and shortcuts across all Windows versions, and web browsers use favicon.ico for website identity in tabs and bookmarks. ICO creation and editing is supported by image editors like GIMP, Inkscape, and dedicated icon tools, and the format remains essential for Windows application development.
Developer: Microsoft
Initial release: 1985

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert TTF to ICO?

ICO lets you turn any glyph into a Windows-native icon — useful for creating custom app icons, favicons, or toolbar buttons from symbolic typeface characters.

What applications use ICO format?

Windows Explorer displays ICO as file/folder icons. Visual Studio uses them for app resources. Web browsers use ICO for favicons in older setups.

Can ICO files contain multiple sizes?

Yes. ICO supports multiple resolutions in a single file (16x16, 32x32, 48x48, 256x256), enabling sharp display at different UI scales.

Is transparency supported in the output?

ICO supports alpha transparency, so your font glyph can sit on a transparent background — clean for icon use on any desktop theme.

Does Convertio charge for TTF to ICO?

No charge at all. Convertio converts TTF to ICO for free — just upload, convert, and grab your icon.

TTF to ICO Quality Rating

3.8 (18 votes)
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