204 No Content

The HTTP 204 No Content success status response code indicates that the request has succeed, but that the client doesn't need to go away from its current page. A 204 response is cacheable by default. An ETag header is included in such a response.

The common use case is to return 204 as a result of a PUT request, updating a resource, without changing the current content of the page displayed to the user. If the resource is created, 201 Created is returned instead. If the page should be changed to the newly updated page, the 200 should be used instead.

Status

204 No Content

Specifications

Specification Title
RFC 7231, section 6.3.5: 204 No Content Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content

Browser compatibility

FeatureChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafari
Basic Support(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)
FeatureAndroidChrome for AndroidEdge mobileFirefox for AndroidIE mobileOpera AndroidiOS Safari
Basic Support(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)(Yes)

Compatibility notes

  • Although this status code is intended to describe a response with no body, servers may erroneously include data following the headers. The protocol allows user agents to vary in how they process such responses (discussion regarding this specification text can be found here). This is observable in persistent connections, where the invalid body may include a distinct response to a subsequent request.

    Apple Safari rejects any such data. Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge discard up to four invalid bytes preceding a valid response. Firefox tolerates in excess of a kilobyte of invalid data preceding a valid response.

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

 Contributors to this page: jugglinmike, fscholz, teoli
 Last updated by: jugglinmike,