20 HTML Icons and Icon Sets in HTML File Format

5 Best HTML Icons and Icon Sets in HTML File Format 2026

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HTML icons are pretty popular around the web. Every website, presentation, social media post presents at least one icon that highlights or summarizes a concept.

More than their merely apparent function, icons offer other benefits and can also improve the user experience.

For example, you can use icons as breaks. In other words, you can break walls of text by placing them between the lines. This way, you'll split the text into smaller and more readable parts. As a result, the users will be more willing to read the text and engage further with your content.

The global understandability of icons is another factor that makes them useful. Therefore, people from other cultures and different languages can easily recognize and understand the icons' meaning.

Icons can provide other benefits besides these.

The creation of perfectly looking and functional icons from scratch, on the other hand, requires expertise in design, in addition to the use of professional software, which can be costly.

Because of this, many people prefer to buy ready-to-use icons. In addition, many web designers are turning to the internet to sell their professional artworks because of the high demand for icons. Thus, you can choose among a wide variety of representations to fulfill your necessities.

HTML icons at TemplateMonster

The TemplateMonster marketplace makes at your disposal a wide range of HTML icon sets. Each set is designed by expert web designers and has its style. You can choose the one that best fits your personal preferences or brand identity.

You can filter your research by color, topic, file format, compatibility, rating, and last update. By doing so, you'll make the research more straightforward and get only the results you are interested in.

Having a set instead of a single icon will allow you to take advantage of different representations while guaranteeing design consistency throughout your website, presentation, and so on. Otherwise, you will have to choose icons with different styles, which will look unprofessional.

Even if you don't find a design that perfectly reflects the one you used for the other elements on your content, you can edit it. Most of the icons embedded in a set are editable and customizable separately using compatible programs or online tools.

HTML icon topics

HTML icons can represent different objects, actions, and ideas associated with a certain topic. Thus, whatever the industry you operate in, you can be sure to find a related graphic. Some of the most common topics you can encounter are:

• game;
• security;
• data;
• medical;
• industrial;
• people;
• nature;
• food;
• business;
• sports.

Where to place icons

Icons are versatile and multipurpose elements. This means you can place them wherever you like the most or need them. Some of the most frequent icon placements include:

• websites;
• presentations;
• landing pages;
• brochures;
• ebooks;
• mobile apps;
• infographics;
• social media posts;
• Instagram stories highlight covers;
• flyers.

What are icons used for

There are many ways in which you can use icons. Whether for your website, presentation, or mobile app, you can use icons for multiple purposes.

Below are listed some ideas.

Highlight benefits

If you own a business, you may already know how important it is to highlight the benefits of your product or service. The benefits of a product motivate people to make a purchase, as they provide a clear picture of what they will receive if they buy.

In such cases, icons are often used to summarize the advantages. Often, they're also accompanied by a few lines of text which explain the characteristics of the product or service.

Step-by-step processes

Often icons are also used to guide people through a step-by-step process. Whether icons represent numbers or symbols summarizing the step to take, they're often helpful to draw the readers' attention.

Having no symbols at all could make your content look boring and unorganized.

Lists

As for step-by-step processes, you can also embellish lists with icons. It doesn't matter if it is a list for a video, listicle, or social media post; icons will help you capture the users' attention and make their experience more pleasant.

Menus

Many websites use icons also for their menus. In many cases, people use these to show users to which page they will be redirected when they click or to help them understand what the page is about.

Call-to-actions

Often, call-to-action words are accompanied by icons. For example, think of the cart symbol that accompanies the word "add to the cart." In such cases, icons are used as anchors to capture the users' attention and drive them to take the desired action.

Tips to choose and use icons the best

The processes of choosing and using icons shouldn't be random. However, there are some considerations to keep in detail when going through these important steps.

Below, you'll find some of the best tips to help make the best choice.

How to choose icons

The phase of choosing icons is a crucial moment. Your choice will determine the icons' effectiveness. This is why you should attentively choose them, considering some important aspects. Here, you'll find some of the most important.

Recognizable meaning

One of the first things you should look at when choosing icons is if users can easily and immediately recognize their meaning. They should be able to relate the icon to the object, idea, or action you'd like to communicate within a few seconds. To make sure this happens, you can also run a test. If tested people take over five seconds to guess the right meaning, you should opt for another icon.

Simple design

You should always choose icons with the simplest design. This way, you'll make sure that the users will clearly understand and distinguish the icons. Thus, avoid complex or intricate shapes or designs, which may confuse and look unprofessional.

Right size and format

Before choosing icons, you should make sure that they're available in the right format and size. In particular, choosing the right format will guarantee the best results in terms of functionality and appearance. For example, if you intend to place icons on your website, you should choose the SVG format. Whereas, if you need to add them to your PowerPoint presentation, you can choose a PNG or JPG format.

Design consistency

Another important aspect to consider when choosing icons is the design consistency you'll guarantee throughout your content. To rephrase it, you should choose icons with a similar style or partially reflect the one you used for the other elements on your website or document. Choosing too many distinct shapes or colors will make it look unprofessional and unorganized.

Sufficient number of icons

If you're looking for more than a single icon, you should make sure that the sets you look at have enough icons to cover your necessities. If not so, you may need to choose icons from distinct sets with a divergent design and style, which may look unprofessional and untidy.

How to use icons

In addition to the decision phase, you should also carefully consider the placement of the icons. Paying attention to some relevant details, you'll ensure that the users will receive the best experience with your website or any other digital asset.

Below, you'll find some of the best tips for optimal icon usability.

Add text labels

Although icons can communicate a message with no additional information, it is good to accompany them with a text label. This text will help the users understand the icons and remove any doubt or uncertainty they may have. The text label shouldn't be longer than three words and be able to summarize the meaning precisely.

Leave enough space between icons

When adding icons to your document or website, consider leaving enough space between them. By doing so, you'll make your content look polished and organized, and users will clearly distinguish and notice the icons separately.

Make icons proportionate

Among the other things, you should also consider making the icons proportionate to the other elements presented on the screen. You should also consider the different screen formats, paying more attention to how icons appear on mobile devices since they are used more than desktops.

Add animations and links

To make your icons even more engaging, consider adding animations or links. You can, for instance, use icons as buttons and redirect visitors to another page of your website when they click on them. Likewise, the animation can perform every time the page loads or the user hovers the mouse over the icon. This will make the experience more enjoyable and memorable.

Don't overdo it

Although you can use icons to represent every important concept of your document or website, you shouldn't overdo it. In other words, you shouldn't use too many icons. If doing so, your content will look messy, and users may find it unprofessional.

Advantages of using HTML icons

Some advantages make HTML icons the favorite choice over the other file formats. Here are listed some of the most relevant benefits.

All browsers support HTML icons

Almost all web browsers around the world support HTML. Thus, even if the icons are written in HTML, they'll be visible regardless of the user's browser.

HTML is the most friendly for search engines

HTML is one of the most friendly programming languages, as it is easier to read and accessed by web crawlers.

HTML icons are lightweight

HTML is a lightweight language. Thus, icons written using this programming language won't load your website or document nor ruin its overall performance.

HTML is simple to edit

HTML is a very easy language to edit. You can do it by using a text editor like Notepad.