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HTTP 205 Reset Content

HTTP 205 Reset Content tells the client the request succeeded and it should reset the document view, such as clearing a form. The request was received, understood and accepted.

Class
2xx Success
Standard
RFC 9110
Cacheable by default
No
Safe to retry
Not applicable: this isn’t an error
Go constant
http.StatusResetContent

What HTTP 205 means

205 is like 204, but asks the client to reset what it is showing, such as clearing a form after a submission so the user can enter the next record. Browsers don’t implement this behaviour, so it is rarely used.

Retrying

Not applicable: this isn’t an error.

Example response

HTTP/1.1 205 Reset Content
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:30:00 GMT

How to return 205

Node.js (Express)
res.status(205).end();
Python (FastAPI)
from fastapi import Response

return Response(status_code=205)
Go (net/http)
w.WriteHeader(http.StatusResetContent)

Related status codes

  • 204 No Content : The request succeeded and there is no response body.
  • 200 OK : The request succeeded and the response contains the result.

Other 2xx status codes

200 OK · 201 Created · 202 Accepted · 203 Non-Authoritative Information · 204 No Content · 206 Partial Content · 207 Multi-Status

See the full list of HTTP status codes.

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

What does HTTP 205 Reset Content mean?

HTTP 205 Reset Content tells the client the request succeeded and it should reset the document view, such as clearing a form. 205 is like 204, but asks the client to reset what it is showing, such as clearing a form after a submission so the user can enter the next record. Browsers don’t implement this behaviour, so it is rarely used.