Articles/HTTP

HTTP 206 Partial Content — What It Means

What HTTP status code 206 Partial Content means, when servers return it, and how to handle it correctly.

Published September 22, 2026

HTTP 206 Partial Content — The server is delivering only part of the resource due to a range header sent by the client.

Key points

  • Returned when a server fulfills a partial GET request made via a Range header
  • Commonly used for resumable downloads and video/audio streaming
  • Includes a Content-Range header describing which part of the resource was returned
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