Google Chrome is not showing any favicons in the bookmark bar anymore. How can I fix this?
May 10, 2012 in Browsers, Mac Tips, Recipes, Software, Windows Tips
In certain situations, Google Chrome may cease to show the favicons of your bookmarks. The favicon will be replaced by a white globe icon, and clicking on the bookmark will not make it appear again.
The "white globe" icon in Google Chrome, indicating a missing bookmark favicon.
To solve this, close Google Chrome and then follow these instructions:
- Mac OS X: delete or rename the Favicons file located at
/Users/your_user_name/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/. Please note that the Library folder specific to a certain user is hidden by default: to access it follow this recipe. - Windows: delete or rename the Favicons file located at
C:\Users\your_user_name\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
If you relaunch Chrome and try to click on a bookmark, the favicon should reappear after the page has finished loading.
You Sir/Madam, are a genius!
Worked instantly… and there was me thinking these online advice forums were just weird ways to meet people!
Great help, thanks again!
Thank you. It worked instantaneously.
Gracias Saludos desde Chile!!
Francesco Zuliani you are brilliant!!! It wasn’t easy finding the Appdata folder on my C-drive but I did it through search tool and when I renamed Favicons folder – icons all returned!
Thank you so much!
Thanks, it works.
Great. Thanks!
CHAMPION! Thanks so much, the tiny blank paper icons was driving me NUTS
Thank you for your help I could not find the folder until I enabled> show hidden folder
You nailed it. Thanks.
Thanks to this post. Mine works like magic in all my sites after figuring out how to delete that favicon. I’ve been looking for solution to my problems about a month already because Chrome drives me nuts. Thank you very very much. More power!
thanks man!
So awesome – worked great, thanks!
Thanks man!! Solved a pretty annoying problem.
[...] fine in Opera, IE and Firefox but does not show in Chrome. Anyone know why? This might help Google Chrome is not showing any favicons in the bookmark bar anymore. How can I fix this? – NonGeek… 0 Reply With [...]
Hello there!
THANK YOU SO MUCH
I was getting all worried and annoyed because I couldn’t find the folder on my computer (my own fault) but after a long time: tada!
Thank you for you good advices and tips,
Charlotte
thank you…it worked like a charm…cheers.
Hello my google chrome tabs are disappearing when i click on them and also the icon for “customise & control” and “bookmark” arent working either. Could this be an issue with my computer or have I clicked something on google chrome.
It really looks like there’s something wrong with your Windows or Chrome installation! I don’t think you clicked anything wrong.
I have just opend by browser normally google but now chrome,,, why, I cannot get my faviorites now,, why do they mess things up I was happy with just google
r
hi i have the same problem- some icons are not showing and and only few are displayed. i’m using acer chromebook to browse the internet. any suggestions how this could work on this device.
thank you very much.
Hi, unfortunately I don’t own a ChromeBook so I can’t experiment. Searching on Google I found that you can access local files by pressing CTRL+O. Does this enable you to access user applications data as well?
hi Francesco, thank you for your reply. yes, pressing ctrl+O takes you to the files, but the problem is- on chrombook there are only downloads and google drive files (those you add yourself) stored so unfortunatelly i can not follow the instructions you have given. anyway thank your for your time. kate
Thanks!! Worked liked a charm.
Easy solution. Thanks.
Thank you very much, it worked for me.
After I press delete, the error comes up and says that I will need permission from the administrator and I press continue since I’m the only user on this computer and it is set as an administrator. And then another error pops up saying “You require permission from Sam-PC\Sam to make changes to this folder” and I have two options to either Try Again and the same message keeps popping back up or cancel. So I press cancel to get out and try again but same message keeps coming back up.
Have you closed Chrome before attempting to delete the folder? In general, if you are attempting to delete
your_user_name\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\this must work. If not, there’s something else that’s wrong in your Windows installation.I closed all open apps before attempting this. I know there should not be a problem but there is. I’m out of ideas and it looks like you are too. Thank You for attempting!!!
Hi, Same problem all bookmark bar icons are turnpage icons instead of website logos. have no default folder no Chrome folder even within the applications support so no hope of finding a favicons folder and deleting it.
Running Mac OS X Snow Leopard
Chrome Version 24.0.1312.36 (Official Build 171496) beta
I always sticked to the stable version of Chrome, so I’m not sure for the beta. Did you closely follow this recipe to access your user’s library folder?
Yes, have no problem getting to the Library folder or Application Support.
There is no Chrome folder in the Application Support or on my mac at all it seems if I search for one.
Downloaded the beta version just today to see if it would help solve the problem. Have tried most things on this post before commenting.
Could it be something to do with the ssl? because that’s what all of my icons look like now & chrome seems to not be able to verify any website.
Take a look at this recipe. Is this the problem you are having?
Yes that’s happening one each site except for ones of strict security (like my college log in)
but my bookmarks (all of them) also look like that icon, even new ones I save
I have gone thru all the suggestions on this post and none works. Please help!!!!! I am running chrome version 23.0.1271.95
Are you running Mac OS or Windows? What are the contents of your user’s Chrome folder?
I am running Windows 7. The chrome fold has Application and user data folders which opens up in to lots of other folders. But the default folder inside the user data has a lot of folders as well as files. I deleted the favicons file and opened up chrome but still the same issue. I have more than 500 favorites bookmarked. This is getting pretty annoying now so any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
It looks your Chrome user folder got screwed up. I would suggest to:
1. Make a backup of your Chrome user folder.
2. Make a backup of your Chrome user folder. I can’t stress it enough!
3. Open Chrome.
4. Sync your bookmarks by signing with your Google ID using these instructions.
5. Close Chrome.
6. Delete or move somewhere else your original Chrome user folder.
7. Reopen Chrome.
Now you have a clean Chrome folder. You just need to get the bookmarks back from the cloud by syncing again using the same instructions above.
The System will not let me move or delete the Chrome Folder.
It can’t be, unless it belongs to another user or you don’t have administration privileges (which shouldn’t be necessary). What’s the error?
Worked perfectly, thanks a ton!
Not sure if this has been mentioned. Easiest way with Mac OSX is to uninstall. Download Chrome. Sigh in and all icons will be back. No different that if you sign in to Chrome on a different computer. You will get your own settings.
Ian
Hi,
I have navigated to /Users/your_user_name/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome but inside the Chrome Folder there is no Default Folder. There are 4 folders NPAPI Flash, PepperFlash, Profile4, Profile 6 and Temp. Looking inside all of these folders there is no Favicons folder?
Which version of Chrome are you using?
Version 23.0.1271.64
I have the same issue as well and i’ve tried all the suggestions and deteling the favicon file but still the problem continues. any other suggestions?
I would suggest to quit Google Chrome, move the Google folder out of Application Support, and restart chrome. The presence of multiple profile folders is strange and probably a symptom of something gone bad in the past.
Great, it worked thanks alot
Awesome!
There is no ‘app data’ folder in my ‘Name’ directory, now what?
reply to this post so i get an email thanx!
Hi! Check this comment. Make sure that you enabled “Show all files and folders” in Windows’ Control Panel.
There is no ‘app data’ folder in my ‘Name’ directory, now what?
Hi my mac os is 10.8.2. My problem is it does not allow me to delete the favicons?! Could you help pls?
Hi! What’s the exact error you are getting?
I have found the favicons file in my mac as per your instructions but I can not delete the file….! ( I clicked right but no delete option)
Make a single left click on the file, then press Command + Delete on your keyboard. This has to work
Oh I got it, thank you so much!!! you are a star!!!
Thank you very much. Sorry for the “me, too” post (but not sorry enough not to post it).
Posts like yours are very welcome! Thanks.
Worked well, thank you
Worked for me, thanks
Thanks, worked for me. Glad I didn’t have to reinstall the profile.
Thank you very much – took a little time, but it worked!!!
Worked, struggled for months before coming upon your site! Thank you!
Hello, I am on OS X Version 10.7.5
I deleted the favicon file and journal and still my favicons look like little document icons.
Do they look like that even when you click on them? Have you tried to fully restart Chrome?
Followed above instructions to a T and it didn’t work for me – using Windows 7 Home Premium. Any suggestions?! Thank you
Hi
Great instructions but when I followed this path /Users/your_user_name/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/ I do not have a default folder. I’ve even tried zapping Google and reinstalling. This is driving me crazy! On my work PC the icons are there but on my mac at home I had the globes. After reinstalling Google I now have blank pages. Any ideas?
Hi Simon, check out this recipe: http://nongeekrecipes.org/2012/08/05/google-chrome-is-displaying-a-blank-page-icon-in-the-address-bar-on-every-webpage-i-visit-what-happened/
I can’t find the Favicons in my library folder. I have a Mac and its Mac OS X 10.6.8.
Hi! Have you followed the instructions contained in this recipe?
Kinda worked halfway for me.. some of my bookmarks are still a blank page not the grey globe in chrome. And its always a blank page in the address bar. Any ideas?
Have you tried clicking on them? You may also try the extension listed at this comment below. Also, if you click on a bookmark and you get a blank page, it means that the bookmark itself is not pointing to any current webpage.
Yes clicking on them restores some but not all, but its the address bar that bugs me the most. I dont get a blank page when i click the bookmark the icon/symbol is a blank page.
According to this link the blank page icon on the address bar is by design. While it may look ugly, it’s not a bug!
Weird
i swear it wasnt like this 2 days ago, guess im going to have to live with it.
Most likely it was a silent update!
Hey that happened to me too, for a couple (like facebook), adding “https://” at the start of the bookmarked address (or changing http to https) fixed it. earlier it was just “www.facebook.com” for me. still doesn’t work for gmail though.
oh and thanks for this fix, Francesco
You are very welcome! Thanks for your input too!
Hey i deleted the file but the icons didnt reappear… help?
Hi! Which OS are you using? Did you click again on the bookmarks after deleting that file?
My google chrome is up to date. It is version 21.0.1180.60 i tried clicking the bookmarks but it didnt work
Are you using Mac OS or Windows? Did you follow all the steps successfully?
Yes i followed the steps correctly i deleted file . I am using windows .
I fixed the Windows instructions as the path was wrong. Please try to follow them again! See also this comment from a Windows user that successfully managed to fix the problem following my instructions, and contributed the right path to the Favicons file.
worked like a charm! after about a week of just globes i was going crazy, thanks so much!
didnt work for me
Can you provide more details of what went wrong so we can further help you?
Thanks, worked like a charm, all icons back, didn’t even have to click on each one to get them back all re appeared when i opened chrome.
Here’s the link for Win7, there’s a few more folders than mentioned above.
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome SxS\User Data\Default
* Chrome SxS – This is canary, a nightly version of chrome but the file structure is the same but with standard chrome will just say chrome…
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
Just rename or delete the favicons file as above and then open chrome.
just a side note, on windows you have to enable: show hidden files and folders to view the AppData directory.
Thanks again.
M
You’re very welcome! Thanks for contributing the additional info!
Thank you, your solution worked perfectly. For those who have hundreds of bookmarks: If you want to avoid clicking manually on every bookmark, you can use an extension called Bookmark Favicon Fixer :
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fkbcolapajjfgjdimpialpgdeclpjjia
Unfortunately – there IS no Favicons file there, or anywhere (after a Search this Mac)… Any other thoughts? Or do I switch to another browser? Because the Favicons in the Bookmark Bar is one of the main reasons I use Chrome… all help welcomed!
Hi! If you have Google Chrome installed, you must have a Favicons file. It’s needed by the browser. Are you sure you are looking in the Library folder related to YOUR OWN user account? Take a look at this recipe, the file must be there.
It didn’t work for me
Every time i start my google chrome and i open the same folder the favications is back again i went so mad that i Tableflipped
The Favicons file will reappear after you rename or delete it. That’s the expected behavior. The whole point of this recipe is to make Chrome recreate that file to fix the problem, actually
yes, that is what i’m doing but still the favicon is not showing, any other suggestion?
Could you provide more info? What’s your OS?
Thank you so much man, I was searching for this the whole week. Thanks for sharing the solution.
Thank you SO much for this. Easy to do and worked the first time.
Glad it worked! Consider sharing the link and letting us help more people with this issue!