BMP to ICO Converter
Convert BMP to ICO entirely in your browser — private, fast, and free, with no file size limit. Drop a BMP file below — conversion happens locally on your device, so the file never leaves your computer.
Drop files, or click to browse
BMP files only — any size, any number of files
Frequently asked questions
Is this BMP to ICO converter really free?+
Yes. There's no file limit, no watermark, and no account required. Because the conversion runs in your browser instead of on a server, there's no processing queue to pay for.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?+
No. Orbfile decodes and re-encodes the image locally using ImageMagick compiled to WebAssembly, running entirely inside your browser tab. The bytes never leave your device.
Will converting to ICO lose quality?+
There's a quality slider so you can balance file size against visual quality. At high quality settings the difference is usually invisible.
Can I convert more than one file at once?+
Yes — drop as many files as you like and download them individually or as a single ZIP.
Is there a maximum file size?+
There's no fixed upload limit — Orbfile isn't uploading anything. The practical ceiling is your device's own memory, which comfortably handles even large, high-resolution photos.
How do I convert BMP to ICO?+
Drop your BMP file into the box above — it's automatically converted to ICO and a download link appears in seconds. No settings are required, though you can adjust quality if the tool offers a slider.
About BMP and ICO
What is BMP?
BMP is an old Windows bitmap format that stores pixel data with little or no compression — simple, but large.
Full BMP format guide →What is ICO?
ICO is the Windows icon container format — it can bundle several sizes of the same image into one file for favicons and app icons.
Full ICO format guide →People usually reach for this conversion because ICO offers multi-resolution support in a single file, sidestepping a real BMP weak spot: huge file sizes compared to almost any modern format. It's especially useful for website favicons.
How it works
- 1
Drop your file in
Drag your image onto the box above, or click it to browse — there's no account to create and no upload to wait on.
- 2
Pick your settings
The output format is already set for this page — just adjust any extra options shown, if there are any.
- 3
Download the result
Your browser processes everything locally and hands you a download link the moment it's done — nothing was ever sent to a server.
Is it private?
Everything happens locally, inside this browser tab. Your image is read from disk, processed with WebAssembly running on your own device, and handed back to you as a download — it's never transmitted anywhere, so there's nothing to intercept and nothing stored on a server.
Common use cases
- Website favicons
- Windows application icons
- Preparing images for a website or online store
- Attaching a photo to an email with a size limit
Supported formats
This is one of many pairings the image toolkit handles. In total it covers:
Related conversions
Format details
About BMP files+
BMP is an old Windows bitmap format that stores pixel data with little or no compression — simple, but large.
BMP dates back to the earliest versions of Microsoft Windows, where it was used as the native format for storing raw pixel grids with minimal processing overhead — appropriate for the modest CPUs of the era, but wasteful by modern standards. Because it stores pixels close to as-is, a BMP file opens instantly and never introduces compression artifacts, but it can be five to ten times larger than a JPEG of the same image. Today it mostly survives in legacy Windows software and a few specialized pipelines that specifically want uncompressed pixel data.
How to open a BMP file
Opens readily in Windows Photos, macOS Preview, Any web browser. For real editing, use Photoshop, GIMP, MS Paint.
Good for
- dead-simple, well-documented structure
- no compression artifacts
Watch out for
- huge file sizes compared to almost any modern format
About ICO files+
ICO is the Windows icon container format — it can bundle several sizes of the same image into one file for favicons and app icons.
ICO was built for exactly one job: giving Windows a single file that holds several resolutions and color depths of the same icon, so the operating system can pick whichever version fits — a small taskbar icon versus a large desktop shortcut, for instance — without any scaling. That same trick is why browsers still expect a site's favicon.ico to work the same way: one file, several embedded sizes, used at whatever resolution the browser tab needs.
How to open a ICO file
Opens readily in Windows Explorer previews it automatically, Any web browser. For real editing, use GIMP, IcoFX, Photoshop (with a plugin).
Good for
- multi-resolution support in a single file
- the format browsers expect for favicon.ico
Watch out for
- not meant for anything beyond small icons
Need a different format? Try the full Image Converter, or explore all image tools.