206 Partial Content

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

CategorySuccess (2xx)

API error types0 error schemas

Related headers9 headers

Defined inRFC 9110, Section 15.3.7

Updated2026-07-09

What does HTTP status code 206 mean?

The 206 Partial Content status code is returned when the client requested a specific byte range of a resource (using the Range header) and the server is delivering only that portion.

When to use it in APIs

Useful for APIs serving binary files, videos, or large log files, enabling clients to download files in chunks or resume interrupted downloads.

How it compares to other codes

200 OK: Returns the entire resource, not a segmented portion.

Accept-RangesAdvertises whether a server supports range requests for a resource.

Content-DigestCarries a hash of the actual message content, so the recipient can check the bytes arrived intact.
Content-RangeIndicates which portion of a resource is delivered in a partial response.
If-RangeMakes a range request conditional: send the requested part if the resource is unchanged, otherwise send the whole new representation.
LinkProvides a means to serialize relationships between resources in HTTP headers, commonly used for pagination.
RangeRequests only part of a resource by specifying one or more byte ranges.
Repr-DigestCarries a hash of the full selected representation, independent of ranges and of how this message frames it.
Unencoded-DigestCarries a hash of the full representation with no content coding applied, so a client that decoded gzip or br can verify what it got.
Want-Repr-DigestAsks the other side to send a Repr-Digest of the full selected representation, with a weighted preference for hash algorithms.

200OKThe request has succeeded. The response payload contains the requested resource representation.

What does HTTP status code 206 mean?

When to use it in APIs

How it compares to other codes

Headers seen with it

Codes to compare