Format Showdown

ICO VS BMP

The ultimate comparison guide. Understanding the technical differences between Icon File and Bitmap Image File.

ICO

ico

Standard format used for computer icons and favicons.

Pros

Contains multiple resolutions
Standard for Windows/Web icons

Cons

Limited use case
Inefficient for general images

BMP

bmp

Uncompressed raster graphics, high quality but large file size.

Pros

Uncompressed quality
Simple structure
Fast processing

Cons

Huge file sizes
No compression
No web usage

When ICO wins

Stay with ICO when you need favicons or desktop icons. Its strengths center on contains multiple resolutions and a feature set native to Microsoft.

When BMP wins

Choose BMP when your workflow prioritizes windows system files or legacy software. It delivers uncompressed quality plus modern compression perks.

Technical Specifications

Feature	ICO	BMP
MIME Type	image/x-icon	image/bmp
Developer	Microsoft	Microsoft
Release Year	1985	1990
Best For	Favicons, Desktop icons	Windows system files, Legacy software

Need to switch?

Convert ICO to BMP Convert BMP to ICO

Opportunity map

Where ICO still wins

Keep ICO when you need contains multiple resolutions and workflows depend on favicons / desktop icons. Link those teams directly to the converter above so they can ship BMP deliverables without leaving their browser.

• Reference the .ico glossary from this page.
• Embed the conversion CTA in docs, wikis, and onboarding runbooks.
• Use BMP for windows system files while archiving originals as ICO.

Internal linking plan

Keep crawlers in the conversion hub

Link this comparison to the relevant tool, glossary, and documentation pages so every crawl discovers a monetizable route.

ICO to BMP converter BMP to ICO converter Use case library Implementation docs