To change Safari favorites icons on Mac, you can adjust how icons appear in the Favorites bar or fix broken icons, but you cannot set a custom image for a website's icon. Safari automatically uses a website's favicon (a small icon provided by the website) or a "mask-icon" for its display in Favorites and Pinned Tabs.
How to change Safari favorites icons on Mac
When you want to change Safari favorites icons, you are likely trying to do one of two things: customize how the icons look in the Favorites bar or correct a missing or incorrect icon. Understanding the limitation is important: Safari pulls icons directly from each website, so you cannot upload your own image to replace a site's icon. If a site’s image is missing, it may be because the site never provided a browser icon for Safari to display. If you're switching browsers, you can also move favorites from Chrome to edge to keep your curated sites intact. The following sections cover both common scenarios.
Show icons only in the Favorites bar
You might want to show icons only in the Favorites bar to create a cleaner, more visual layout that saves space and removes text labels. To customize how Favorites appear in the Favorites bar on Mac, users can right-click a space on the Favorites bar. From the right-click menu, options include "Show Icons Only," "Show Icons and Text," or "Show Text Only" for the Favorites bar. Selecting "Show Icons Only" hides all site names and displays only the favicon images, giving you a compact row of visual bookmarks.
Fix missing or incorrect favorites icons
If a website's icon appears incorrect or is missing, clearing Safari's favicon cache can force Safari to re-fetch the correct icon. This is useful when a site has updated its logo but Safari still shows the old one, or when an icon fails to load entirely. To clear Safari's favicon cache on a Mac:
- Quit Safari.
- Open Finder and choose Go > Go to Folder from the top menu bar.
- Enter ~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache/ in the pop-up window and click Go.
- Select all items within the Favicon Cache folder and move them to the Trash.
- Empty the Trash.
- Restart Safari after clearing the cache for the browser to rebuild the favicon cache as you visit websites.
After restarting Safari, visit the websites with missing or incorrect icons. Safari will download fresh favicons from those sites, and the correct icons should appear.
Limitations on iPhone and iPad
If you want to change Safari favorites icons on an iPhone or iPad, you need to set realistic expectations. Editing a Favorite on iOS allows changing its name and URL, but not its icon image. On iOS devices, you can long-press a favorite to edit its label or web address, but the icon will always remain the default favicon provided by the website. There is no built-in method to replace it with a custom image.
A note on pinned tabs icons
For Pinned Tabs, website owners can provide a "mask-icon," which is a black SVG image, along with a color for the active state. These icons are controlled entirely by website developers and are not something an end-user can customize. If a pinned tab shows a generic letter instead of a logo, it means the website has not supplied a mask-icon, and you cannot change it from your end. This prevents confusion if you attempt to modify pinned tab icons, as they are outside your control.
