# what do you call those icons next to the web address in IE? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 1, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-those-icons-next-to-the-web-address-in-ie/495018 "2009-05-01T20:28:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-those-icons-next-to-the-web-address-in-ie/495018/1 "2009-05-01T20:28:44Z")
For example, right now, next to the words www.boards.straigntdope…etc there is the default explorer icon, but typically when I go to google or yahoo or something, it will change to something else, like a big Y! for Yahoo! Anyhow, recently the icons seem to be completely random and unrelated to the website I am at. Because I don’t know what to call them, I am having difficuty researching the problem. Anyone else have this problem? Is that some sort of virus, or is there some other way to fix this? ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-those-icons-next-to-the-web-address-in-ie/495018/2 "2009-05-01T20:32:00Z")
Favicons. > **[Favicon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favicon)** > > A favicon (/ˈfæv.ɪˌkɒn/; short for favorite icon), also known as a shortcut icon, website icon, tab icon, URL icon, or bookmark icon, is a file containing one or more small icons associated with a particular website or web page. A web designer can create such an icon and upload it to a website (or web page) by several means, and graphical web browsers will then make use of it. Browsers that provide favicon support typically display a page's favicon in the browser's address bar (someti > In March...