Favicon Badge & InstanceTag

When working with multiple ServiceNow instances, it's easy to lose track of which instance you're on. Favicon Badge and InstanceTag help you visually identify instances at a glance.

Both features are configured through Manage Instance Tag and Favicon settings. Depending on browser support, these settings open in a side panel, a separate popup window, or a new tab if the popup cannot be opened.

Opening the Settings

There are three ways to open these settings on a specific instance:

1. Gear icon on the InstanceTag — Click the ⚙ icon on the InstanceTag to open the settings.
2. Context menu — Right-click anywhere on a ServiceNow page and select SN Utils → Manage Instance Tag and Favicon from the context menu.
3. Context menu, forced into a window — Right-click and select SN Utils → Manage Instance Tag and Favicon (Popup Window) to skip the side panel entirely and open the settings in a separate window.

On browsers with working side panel support, SN Utils opens a side panel. On browsers where side panels are unavailable or unreliable, SN Utils opens the same settings in a separate window instead, or in a new tab if the popup cannot be opened. In Firefox, the context menu remains the most reliable way to open this view.

Favicon Overlay

Configure a favicon badge in the settings view. This overlay applies to all tabs of a specific instance.

Configuration options:

• Background color
• Text (maximum 3 characters) — without text, the badge is not shown. Clear the text field (or use the clear link next to it) to disable the badge for that instance.
• Badge size slider
• Font size slider

The badge uses the tinycon.js library and has some limitations.

InstanceTag

InstanceTag is a draggable tag that helps identify the current instance.

Enable via the Enable Tag toggle in the settings view.

Features:

• Auto-shows on any instance you visit (when enabled)
• Picks a default color based on instance name
• Label defaults to instance name
• Draggable along left, bottom, or right edge

Controls:

• ⋮ — Drag handle to reposition
• ⚙ — Opens the settings view (side panel, popup window, or fallback tab, depending on browser support). SHIFT-click hides the tag on the current instance
• ▸ — Configurable button that runs a slash command (defaults to /tn for click, /vd for SHIFT-click)

Customization:

• Double-click the label to run a configurable command (default: /pop)
• Change text, font size, color in the settings view
• Select Reset Position in the settings view — or in Manage Settings → Instances — to return the tag to its default place along the bottom edge

To re-enable a hidden tag, use the settings toggle or slash command /itt.

Instance Clock

The InstanceTag can show the current time in the instance's timezone next to the label — handy when your instance (and its scheduled jobs, SLAs and logs) runs in a different timezone than you do.

Enable it with the Show clock toggle in the per-instance settings view, or globally via Manage Settings → Settings → InstanceTag Clock. Hover the label to see which timezone is being used.

Timezone detection:

• On first use, SN Utils detects the instance timezone automatically from the instance's system properties and caches it per instance — this is a one-time lookup.
• You can override or set it manually in the Timezone field in the settings view (IANA format, e.g. Europe/Amsterdam), with autocomplete suggestions.
• The Detect button re-runs detection on demand (requires admin on the instance).

Managing All Instances from One Place

You can also view all your instances from Manage Settings → Instances (/manage.html#instances). With Pro, you can configure Favicon Badge and InstanceTag for all your instances in one place directly from this page — no need to visit each individual instance and open the per-instance settings view first. Without Pro, the Instances tab provides a read-only overview of your instances.

Edits made here apply immediately to any open tab of that instance, and include Reset Position for the tag. This makes the Instances tab a complete alternative to the per-instance settings view — useful if your browser's side panel doesn't work.

Each instance card also identifies whether its configuration is Personal or Team Shared. Personal settings take precedence when both are available, so you can keep your own visual choices without changing the configuration shared with your team.