Icon (computing)

A computer icon is a small graphic, usually ranging from 16 pixels by 16 pixels to upto 128 pixels by 128 pixels, which represents a file, folder, application or device on a computer system. Icons were first developed as a tool for making computer interfaces easier for novices to grasp in the 1970s at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center facility. Icon-driven interfaces were later popularized by the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows operating environments.

Icons may also be found on the toolbars and in the menus of programs such as Microsoft Word.

Virtually every major computer operating system now uses icon-based GUIs to display information to end users.