File extension ICO
| File type | Icon Format |
| Developer | N/A |
| Ads |
What is a ICO file?
File with an .ICO extension contains a small image – two bitmaps; used as an icon of programs and catalogues in Windows system. The two bitmaps, one called „AND”, imaging a mask indicating transparency and the other one – „XOR”, containing icon image.
An example of frequently used ICO file is favicon.ico, a 16 x 16 pixel icon which is a logo of an Internet website, which is loaded in the website’s address bar, if it is present in the main catalogue on a server of the page. ICO format is similar to a different type of file used to display a cursor in Windows – CUR. Utilising additional software, appearance of icons can be edited.
Program(s) that can open the .ICO file
Windows
Mac OS
Linux
How to open ICO files
If you cannot open the ICO file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports ICO among those that are installed on your device.
A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application. The first part of the task has already been done – the software supporting the ICO file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.
Possible problems with the ICO format files
The inability to open and operate the ICO file does not necessarily mean that you do not have an appropriate software installed on your computer. There may be other problems that also block our ability to operate the Icon Format file. Below is a list of possible problems.
- Corruption of a ICO file which is being opened
- Incorrect links to the ICO file in registry entries.
- Accidental deletion of the description of the ICO from the Windows registry
- Incomplete installation of an application that supports the ICO format
- The ICO file which is being opened is infected with an undesirable malware.
- The computer does not have enough hardware resources to cope with the opening of the ICO file.
- Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a ICO file are out of date.
If you are sure that all of these reasons do not exist in your case (or have already been eliminated), the ICO file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the ICO file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the ICO file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.
Similar extensions
| .adm | Administrator Policy Template Format |
| .adml | Microsoft Administrative Language-specific XML Template Format |
| .admx | Microsoft Administrative XML Template Format |
| .aml | Microsoft Assistance Markup Language |
| .ani | Animated Cursor |
| .ann | Microsoft Windows Help Annotation Format |
| .aos | Archos Signed Encrypted Data Format |
| .asec | Google Android Encrypted Application Package Format |
How to associate the file with an installed software?
If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.ICO) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected ICO file. From the drop-down menu select "Choose default program", then click "Browse" and find the desired program. The whole operation must be confirmed by clicking OK. The second and more difficult to do is associate the ICO file extension to the corresponding software in the Windows Registry.
Is there one way to open unknown files?
Many files contain only simple text data. It is possible that while opening unknown files (e.g. ICO) with a simple text editor like Windows Notepad will allow us to see some of the data encoded in the file. This method allows you to preview the contents of many files, but probably not in such a structure as a program dedicated to support them.