Gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar) is a free service by Automattic that associates your avatar image with your email address. When you use a Gravatar-enabled website (like WordPress, GitHub, Stack Overflow, Slack, and millions of others), your avatar automatically appears next to your comments, posts, or profile. It works by converting your email address into an MD5 hash, which is then used to fetch your uploaded avatar from Gravatar's servers. This means you only need to set up your avatar once at gravatar.com to have it appear across thousands of websites.

To create or update your Gravatar, visit gravatar.com and sign up with a WordPress.com account (or create one for free). Once logged in, you can upload multiple avatar images and associate them with different email addresses. You can also set ratings for each avatar. After setup, any website that supports Gravatar will automatically display your chosen avatar when you use that email address. Changes usually propagate immediately, though some sites may cache avatars for a short period.

When no Gravatar exists for an email address, Gravatar can generate a default avatar based on the d= parameter in the URL. Here are the options:

mp — Mystery Person: A simple gray silhouette (the default).
identicon — A geometric pattern uniquely generated from the email hash.
monsterid — A cute monster character generated from the hash.
wavatar — A randomly generated face/cartoon character.
retro — An 8-bit pixelated style avatar.
robohash — A unique robot illustration.
blank — A transparent/empty image (no visual placeholder).
404 — Returns an HTTP 404 error if no avatar exists (useful for programmatic checking).

Gravatar allows users to self-rate their avatars, similar to movie ratings:

G (General) — Suitable for all ages and all audiences. Safe for work and family-friendly sites.
PG (Parental Guidance) — May contain mild cartoon violence or suggestive themes, but nothing explicit.
R (Restricted) — May contain adult themes, mild profanity, or more intense imagery.
X (Explicit) — May contain explicit adult content, nudity, or graphic violence.

When requesting a Gravatar, the r= parameter acts as a maximum allowed rating. For example, if you set r=g, only G-rated avatars will be returned; any PG, R, or X avatars will be replaced with the default avatar instead. Most websites use r=g as the safest default.

This tool automatically checks for you! You can also manually check by adding ?d=404 to the Gravatar URL. If the email has a registered Gravatar, the image will load normally. If no Gravatar exists, the server returns an HTTP 404 error (no image). Programmatically, you can use JavaScript's Image object with onload and onerror handlers to detect the result. Our tool performs exactly this check when you click the "Check Gravatar Status" button or when you type an email address.

Gravatar supports image sizes from 1px up to 2048px (using the s= or size= parameter). If you request a size larger than 2048px, Gravatar will cap it at 2048px. The default size is 80px. For high-resolution (Retina) displays, you may want to request double the display size (e.g., request 512px for a 256px display) to ensure crisp rendering. Gravatar images are always square and served as JPEG or PNG depending on the original upload.

Gravatar is owned by Automattic (the company behind WordPress.com), and their privacy practices are outlined in their privacy policy. When a website loads a Gravatar image, the user's IP address and browser information are sent to Gravatar's servers. This has raised GDPR considerations in the EU. Some privacy-focused websites choose to use local avatars or self-hosted alternatives. If you run a website, consider whether you need to obtain user consent before loading Gravatar images, especially in regions with strict privacy laws. Gravatar itself processes email hashes (MD5), not plain-text emails, for avatar lookups.