ICO stands for Icon Format file. This type of file is used in Windows operating systems for storing the ICOns of windows programs, files and folders. The most popular ICO file is the favICOn.ICO. This is used in websites to display an ICOn in the web browser whenever the user browses the website.
Every ICO file contains two bitmaps. The first one is an image mask that is used to determine which part of the ICO file contains transparent image data. This is called the AND bitmap. The second one is the one that contains actual ICOn data that is mapped over the transparent image data. This is called the XOR bitmap.
| File type | Icon Format |
| Developer | Lack of information |
| Popularity | |
| Share |
While searching for an answer to the question - How to open the ICO file? - you probably found websites, which offer software that was able to open any file extension. Do not be fooled, there is no one program that will allow you to work with any file extension, including the ICO file. Each program contains a different type of data and you need specialized software to properly work with the ICO file. Here is a list of programs that are designed to work with the ICO file - remember, these applications are able to open at most a few file extensions, they are designed to work with a specific data type.
If after installing the program from a list, you still cannot open a file with the ICO extension, the reason may be that the file is damaged. The solution may be to find a new copy of the ICO file you want to open
In this case, the easiest way is to use the tool built into the operating system for association of the ICO file with applications to support it. Double click on the file you cannot open - the operating system will display a list of programs that are likely to work with your ICO file. Choose one of them, or select the location on a disk where you installed one of the applications from our list. Windows should then open the ICO file using the program installed earlier.
Entries containing links of the ICO file extensions with applications is located in the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. If you do not know how to get to the Windows Registry, or how to make changes in it, ask a specialist for help. Lack of knowledge on the subject may cause irreversible changes on your computer.
There may be a situation when a computer virus passes itself off as the ICO file. In this case, such a file will definitely not be opened. Download a good antivirus program and scan the ICO file mentioned. If the antivirus application detects malicious data, it may signify that the ICO file is infected.
| ICONBOXICON | IconBox |
| ICXS | ITunes |
| ICW | Microsoft Internet Explorer Internet Connection Wizard |
| IC8 | Neo Geo BIOS |
| IC3D | IC3D Scene Format |
| ICNS | Apple Icon Graphic Format |
| ICPR | IconUtils Project Format |
| ICALENDAR | ICalendar Calendar File Format (Microsoft Outlook, Apple ICal) |
| ICON | Icon Image Format |
| ICALTODO | Apple ICal Document Format |
