404 Not Found (HTTP Status Code 404)

HTTP status code 404 is one of the most common HTTP status codes, indicating that the server cannot find the resource requested by the client. This typically means that the requested webpage or file does not exist or has been removed.

Causes of 404 Error

Incorrect URL: The URL requested by the client may be misspelled or have changed.
Resource Removed: The requested resource may have been deleted or moved to another location.
Server Configuration Issues: The server may not be properly configured to handle the request.

When the server returns a 404 status code, it usually includes an error page in the response body, explaining that the requested resource cannot be found. This error page may provide information on how to locate the resource or include a link back to the website’s homepage.

For example, the server might send the following response:

HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 169

<html>
<head><title>404 Not Found</title></head>
<body>
<h1>Not Found</h1>
<p>The requested URL /missing-page was not found on this server.</p>
<hr>
<address>Apache/2.4.1 (Unix) Server at www.example.com Port 80</address>
</body>
</html>

In this example, the status code 404 indicates that the server cannot find the requested resource /missing-page. The response body contains a simple HTML page informing the user that the requested resource was not found.

When the client receives a 404 error, it can:

Check if the URL was entered correctly.
Use the website’s search function to locate the resource.
Return to the website’s homepage and try to find the correct link.
Contact the website administrator or owner for assistance if they believe the resource should exist.

The 404 error is temporary; if the resource is re-uploaded or the URL is corrected, future requests for that resource may succeed.

404 Not Found (HTTP Status Code 404)

Causes of 404 Error

Related 4xx error code