HTTP 206 Partial Content

Success code, RFC 9110, section 15.3.7

What it means

The server is sending only part of the file, because the request asked for a range of bytes. Video players and download managers use this to seek and to resume.

A real response

This is the request and the answer our test server gave when we asked it to return 206.

GET /c/206 HTTP/1.1
Host: example.com

HTTP/1.1 206 Partial Content
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2026 10:00:00 GMT
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-Range: bytes 0-99/1000
Content-Length: 11

<p>demo</p>

If you run the site

Support the Range request header for large files and send Accept-Ranges: bytes. A 206 must say which bytes it carries in Content-Range, for example bytes 0-9/104. If the range cannot be met, send 416.

If you are a visitor

Nothing to fix. A resumed download is working.

A common mistake

Ignoring the Range header, which makes video seeking and download resume fail.

Registered in the IANA HTTP Status Code Registry as Partial Content, defined in RFC 9110, section 15.3.7.

This is an independent guide. It is not connected with the IETF, IANA, any browser maker or any company named here. Meanings were checked against the RFC texts on 14 November 2026. Responses shown were recorded on 14 November 2026 from a small test server on the author's own computer.