Microsoft Icon vs Tagged Image File Format
Technical analysis 2026: differences, performance and which one you should use for your project.
"It depends on the use case: ICO excels at favicons, while TIFF is better for professional printing."
A specific container for Windows icons and website favicons. It can hold multiple sizes and color depths in a single file.
The industry standard for printing and scanning. Maximum quality with no compression or lossless compression, ideal for archiving originals.
When comparing ICO (Microsoft Icon) with TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), it is important to understand the historical and technical context. ICO was established in 1985, while TIFF appeared in 1986.
The main technical difference lies in their compression algorithm. ICO uses hybrid (both lossy and lossless) compression: you can choose between maximum quality or maximum savings depending on the settings. TIFF, on the other hand, uses lossless compression: it keeps all the original data with no quality loss.
100% (For favicons)
Low (Requires plugins)
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