Please clarify: .ico versus .icl

...can an .ico hold multiple images?

[Storyman]

After creating a few favicon.ico for some websites at 16X16 resolution, I came across the file extension .icl.

The extension .icl is a library of icons and holds up to ten images.

In a previous posting a contributor mentioned that an .ico file can hold up to ten images. Did he mean to say an .icl can hold up to ten images or do both .icl & .ico hold multiple images?

Somewhere, I recall reading that the browser will select the correct resolution from an .ico file, which implies that an .ico file can hold multimple images.

The question leads to a second part, which is if multiple images can be stored in an .ico file is only the 16X16 image selected to display in the URL address or can a higher resolution be selected?

[whoisgregg]

An .ico holds multiple resolutions. The size chosen is dependent on the browser/OS, you can provide a 32 x 32 version in the file, but you can't tell the browser it should use that one over the 16 x 16.