# Range header > Requests only part of a resource by specifying one or more byte ranges. Source: https://apiguide.dev/headers/range Direction: request Registered: yes Defined in: RFC 9110, Section 14.2 Updated: 2026-07-10 ## What is the Range header? The `Range` request header, defined in RFC 9110, asks the server to return only a portion of a resource instead of the whole thing. It is most commonly expressed in bytes, letting clients fetch a specific slice of a file. ## API Usage & Best Practices * **Resumable downloads**: Clients can request the bytes they are missing (for example after a dropped connection) rather than starting the transfer over from scratch. * **Streaming & seeking**: Media players use ranges to jump ahead in audio or video without downloading everything before that point. * **Handle the responses**: A successful partial request returns `206 Partial Content`. If the requested range cannot be satisfied, the server responds with `416 Range Not Satisfiable`; a server that ignores the header simply returns the full resource with `200 OK`. ## Examples ```http GET /video.mp4 HTTP/1.1 Host: cdn.example.com Range: bytes=0-1023 ```