ErrorFindly
2062xx SuccessNone

HTTP 206 Partial Content

Defined in RFC 7233

What Does HTTP 206 Mean?

The server is delivering only part of the resource due to a range header sent by the client.

Common Causes

  1. 1Video or audio streaming with byte-range requests
  2. 2Resuming interrupted file downloads
  3. 3Parallel download segments fetching different byte ranges

Impact

  • ⚠Video/audio playback working normally with seeking
  • ⚠File download resume functioning correctly

Developer Fix

For web developers and application engineers

  1. 1Implement proper Range header handling in clients
  2. 2Support Content-Range response headers
  3. 3Handle multipart byte ranges correctly

Server Admin Fix

For system administrators and DevOps engineers

  1. 1Ensure server supports Range requests for large files
  2. 2Configure proper Accept-Ranges headers
  3. 3Verify CDN passes through range requests correctly

Frequently Asked Questions

Why am I seeing 206 instead of 200?
Your client (or browser) is requesting only a portion of the resource using the Range header. This is normal for video streaming, audio playback, and download resumption.
Can I disable partial content responses?
You can remove Accept-Ranges headers from your server, but this may break video streaming, audio playback, and download resume functionality.

Related HTTP Status Codes

200OK416Range Not Satisfiable

About the Author

Web Infrastructure Team

Verified against official RFC specifications and real-world server configurations. HTTP status code behavior confirmed across Apache, Nginx, and Cloudflare.