---
title: "App Icons"
description: "Learn how metadata files work with logos."
canonical_url: "https://nuxtseo.com/docs/seo-utils/guides/app-icons"
last_updated: "2026-05-19T06:19:36.322Z"
---

## Overview

Nuxt SEO Utils automatically detects icon files in your project and generates the appropriate `link` tags in your HTML head. You **do not need to manually include these icons** - they are auto-generated based on files you place in your project.

This is based on [Next.js Metadata File](https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/metadata/app-icons) with an almost identical API, however runtime images are not supported.

## Setup

Simply place your icon files in either:

- The root of your `public/` directory (applies to all pages)
- Alongside your `pages/` directory (for route-specific icons)

The module will automatically detect these files and generate the appropriate HTML tags. No configuration required.

## Generating Icons with the CLI

If you have a logo or source image, you can generate all required icon variants automatically:

```bash
npx nuxt-seo-utils icons --source logo.svg
```

This creates `favicon.ico`, `apple-touch-icon.png`, and multiple `icon-*.png` sizes. See the [CLI guide](/docs/seo-utils/guides/cli) for details.

## Naming Convention

### `favicon`

- Name: `favicon.ico`

Using an `ico` file for your favicon is a good practice as all browsers support it, you can pack multiple icon sizes
into it without having to define a number of extra icon links.

The `favicon.ico` file should be placed in the `public` directory. It is supported by most browsers and displayed in the browser tab.

By default, it won't output any HTML as browsers know where to look for it. If you're using a `baseURL` then it will output the correct path.

**Example:** Place `favicon.ico` in `public/favicon.ico` and the module automatically generates:

```html [head output]
<link rel="icon" href="/base/favicon.ico" sizes="any" />
```

### `icon`

- Name: `*icon.{ico,jpg,jpeg,png,svg}`, `*icon-*.{ico,jpg,jpeg,png,svg}`

Icons give you greater control over the displayed icon. You can provide multiple icons and
the browser will automatically select the best icon based on the device's pixel density and uses it to display the app icon.

If you have multiple icons and need to sort them, it's recommended you prefix them with their order. For example:
`1.icon.png`, `2.icon.png`, `3.icon.png`.

**Example:** Place icon files in `public/` and the module automatically generates:

```html [head output]
<link rel="icon" href="/1.icon.png" sizes="32x32" type="image/png" />
<link rel="icon" href="/2.icon.png" sizes="192x192" type="image/png" />
<link rel="icon" href="/3.icon.png" sizes="360x360" type="image/png" />
```

#### Dark / Light Mode

You can also provide dark and light mode icons by appending `-dark`,`-light`, `.dark` or `.light` to the icon name.

**Example:** Place `icon-dark.png` and `icon-light.png` in `public/` and the module automatically generates:

```html [head output]
<link rel="icon" href="/icon-dark.png" type="image/png" media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" />
<link rel="icon" href="/icon-light.png" type="image/png" media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)" />
```

### `apple-touch-icon`

- Name: `*apple-icon*.{png,jpg,jpeg}`, `*apple-touch-icon*.{png,jpg,jpeg}`, `apple-touch.{png,jpg,jpeg}`

Apple touch icons are used by iOS devices to display a website's icon on the home screen and in the browser tab. You can again provide
multiple icons.

**Example:** Place `apple-icon.png` in `public/` and the module automatically generates:

```html [head output]
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/apple-icon.png" sizes="180x180" />
```

## Pages Directory

You can also place logos in your `pages` directory. This is useful if you want to have different logos for different pages.

The naming convention is the same as the `public` directory.

```dir
pages/
├── index.vue
├── admin/
│   ├── index.vue
│   └── icon.png
```

This will overwrite any logos in the `public` directory for all `admin` pages.

You can optionally also place your files within the `_dir` directory, which will work the same way.

```dir
pages/
├── index.vue
├── admin/
│   ├── _dir/
│   │   └── icon.png # Does the same thing!
│   └── index.vue
```