206 Partial Content

What is HTTP 206?

This status code is returned when the client requested a specific portion of a resource using a Range header, and the server is fulfilling that partial request. The response includes a Content-Range header indicating which bytes are included. It is essential for resumable downloads, video streaming, and large file transfers where only a portion is needed at a time. Multiple ranges can be requested and returned as a multipart response.

Defined in RFC 9110

Common Causes

• A video player requesting specific byte ranges for streaming playback
• A download manager resuming an interrupted file transfer from where it left off
• A PDF viewer requesting specific pages or sections of a large document

How to Fix

• No fix needed; this is normal for range-based requests and streaming
• If you need the full resource, remove the Range header from your request
• If partial content is not working, verify the server supports range requests via Accept-Ranges header