The HTTP 404
Not Found
client error response code indicates that a server can not find the requested resource. This response code probably is most famous one due to its frequency to occur in the web. These are often called broken or dead links and lead to link rot.
A 404 status code does not indicate whether this lack is temporary or permanent. If the server knows that this condition is likely to be permanent, a 410
(Gone) should be used instead of a 404 status.
Status
404 Not Found
Custom error pages
Many web sites customize the look of a 404 page to be more helpful to the user and to provide guidance. Apache servers can be configured using an .htaccess
file and a code snippet like this one, for example.
ErrorDocument 404 /notfound.html
You can take MDN's 404 page as inspiration.
Note: 404 pages design is an endless source of inspiration, but be aware it also exists a set of best practices to make those pages useful for web site users.
Specifications
Specification | Title |
---|---|
RFC 7231, section 6.5.4: 404 Not Found | Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP/1.1): Semantics and Content |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table in this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari | Servo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic Support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |
Feature | Android | Chrome for Android | Edge Mobile | Firefox for Android | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basic Support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |