alphabetical list of extensions

File extension .ICO

File description

A ICO is an icon file for Windows operating systems. These files contain small images, either one or more. These types of files have been around since Windows began. They first started as simple 32x32 pixels (Windows 1.0) and grew into 256x256 pixels (Windows Vista). Quite a transformation, right? The ICO file is similar to the .CUR file format. The .CUR file is simply a mouse cursor. The ICO file format is a lot like Mac’s .INCS file format as well. They are both files mainly used to store small icons, except on different operating systems.

Description of the problem

If you have on your computer a .ICO file that you cannot open, you are in exactly the same situation as thousands of other people who have similar problems with this or any other unknown file.

There may be several reasons why you cannot open the file with .ICO extension. Directly on this website you can find a solution of the most common problem with the .ICO file – that you do not have on your computer the appropriate program to open the file.

Solution

From the list below, select the appropriate program, install it and double click on the icon of a file that did not want to open - the problem with the .ICO file extension should be solved. However, if this does not happen, go back to the website to learn about other possible causes of the error, which have been described at the bottom of the website.

Category

System Files

Developer

N/A

Popularity

File name: Icon File

Programs that will open this file:

Windows

ACDSee

Adobe Photoshop

FastPictureViewer Professional

FastStone Image Viewer

FormatFactory

GIMP

IcoFX

IvanView

SibCode Sib Icon Editor

Windows Live Photo Gallery

XnView

Mac OS

Apple Preview

GIMP

IconBox

Iconographer

Preview

Linux

GIMP

Remember!

The .ICO file extension can correspond to several not related file formats. If there is more than one file format with the .ICO extension, you will probably find most of them at this website. Remember that you need to download a program to support a particular file type. So first look through the entire contents of the website to select a program to support just the file you have.

Other possible reasons why your .ICO file does not want to open

In addition to the problem described above, i.e. the lack of the appropriate application to support the .ICO file, there may be several reasons that cause problems with opening and operation of the data format:

1. Incorrect version of the installed application

A quite common problem is the lack of application in the appropriate version. Even if you have an application, with the help of which you should open the .ICO file, you may have a problem with it because of its version. Perhaps in previous versions the application has not yet supported the .ICO file, so download the update and check again.

2. Incorrect .ICO file association with the program

If you have already installed the appropriate application, and it is the correct version, the file may not open correctly, because the operating system does not have information that this program supports the file. So you need to "show" which program the computer should use. To do this:

Right-click the .ICO file
Go to the "Open with" - then "Choose default program ..."
Locate the appropriate application
Click "OK"

3. The file is corrupt

It also happens that the file you want to open is corrupt and therefore there is no such possibility. In this situation, you should find its different version, or ask a person from whom you got, to send it again.