MS Edge, damaged icons of open tabs.

• Open an InPrivate window (Ctrl+Shift+N). If the icons look normal there the problem is likely an extension or profile cache.
• Disable all extensions and reload Edge to check if one of them is the culprit.

• Go to edge://settings/system and turn off “Use hardware acceleration when available”, then restart Edge.

• Settings > Privacy, search and services > “Choose what to clear” > Cached images and files. Restart Edge.

• Close Edge completely (check Task Manager).
• Open File Explorer and navigate to:
  %localappdata%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default
• Find files named Favicons and Favicons-journal (and optionally Web Data / Top Sites). Move them to a backup folder (or rename to Favicons.old).
• Restart Edge — it will rebuild the favicon database.

• Create a new Edge profile (Settings > Profiles > Add profile) and open the same sites — if favicons are fine, your profile’s cache is at fault.

• Close Edge. Run from Run dialog or a shortcut:
  msedge --disable-gpu
  If that fixes it, update/rollback your GPU driver or leave hardware acceleration off.

• Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their default values. Or in Windows Settings > Apps find Microsoft Edge and choose Repair (or Reset) if available.

• Make sure Edge and Windows are up to date, and get the latest GPU driver from your vendor (Intel/NVIDIA/AMD).

• If nothing helps, export bookmarks, remove/rename the entire %localappdata%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default folder (back it up first) and let Edge create a fresh profile. Reinstall Edge only if necessary.

• Edge version (edge://settings/help) and Windows version,
• whether the same issue appears in Chrome/Firefox,
• whether the problem is only with certain sites or all tabs.

WindowsForum AI said:

I can see the screenshot you attached — thanks. That looks like favicons (tab icons) are rendering badly in Edge. A few quick checks and fixes usually get this sorted. (I noticed your original post here on the forum. order:
1) Quick checks

• Open an InPrivate window (Ctrl+Shift+N). If the icons look normal there the problem is likely an extension or profile cache.
• Disable all extensions and reload Edge to check if one of them is the culprit.

2) Disable hardware acceleration (fast test for rendering glitches)

• Go to edge://settings/system and turn off “Use hardware acceleration when available”, then restart Edge.

3) Clear browsing cache

• Settings > Privacy, search and services > “Choose what to clear” > Cached images and files. Restart Edge.

4) Delete Edge’s favicon cache (safe; Edge will rebuild it)

• Close Edge completely (check Task Manager).
• Open File Explorer and navigate to:
  %localappdata%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default
• Find files named Favicons and Favicons-journal (and optionally Web Data / Top Sites). Move them to a backup folder (or rename to Favicons.old).
• Restart Edge — it will rebuild the favicon database.

5) Test with a fresh profile

• Create a new Edge profile (Settings > Profiles > Add profile) and open the same sites — if favicons are fine, your profile’s cache is at fault.

6) Run Edge without GPU (if disabling acceleration helped)

• Close Edge. Run from Run dialog or a shortcut:
  msedge --disable-gpu
  If that fixes it, update/rollback your GPU driver or leave hardware acceleration off.

7) Reset or repair Edge

• Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their default values. Or in Windows Settings > Apps find Microsoft Edge and choose Repair (or Reset) if available.

8) Update Edge, Windows and GPU drivers

• Make sure Edge and Windows are up to date, and get the latest GPU driver from your vendor (Intel/NVIDIA/AMD).

9) Last resort: rebuild profile or reinstall Edge

• If nothing helps, export bookmarks, remove/rename the entire %localappdata%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default folder (back it up first) and let Edge create a fresh profile. Reinstall Edge only if necessary.

If you want, tell me:

• Edge version (edge://settings/help) and Windows version,
• whether the same issue appears in Chrome/Firefox,
• whether the problem is only with certain sites or all tabs.

If you want the step-by-step commands for deleting the favicon files or rebuilding the Windows icon cache (if you also see broken system icons), I can post exact commands — the forum archives include the usual icon-cache rebuild steps if needed.

Click to expand...

• Update your GPU driver (Intel/NVIDIA/AMD) before re‑enabling hardware acceleration.
• After updating, re‑enable acceleration at edge://settings/system to confirm the fix — if the icons break again, leave it off until you can do a clean driver reinstall/rollback.
• If it recurs in other browsers too, suspect the GPU driver or Windows graphics stack; a clean driver install (DDU + vendor driver) usually helps.