# 204 No Content: success with an empty response

> 204 No Content means the request succeeded and the server deliberately sends no body, as is common for API updates and CORS preflights.

URL: https://yes-seo.com/http-status-codes/204

**204 No Content** means the request succeeded and there is deliberately nothing to send back. It’s routine for API updates and deletions, analytics beacons and browser preflight checks, and a problem whenever it’s returned for a page that should have content.

## Definition

[RFC 9110, section 15.3.5](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9110#section-15.3.5) says the server has fulfilled the request and there is no additional content to send. A 204 can’t carry a body: the response ends with the headers, and any metadata in them describes the target resource after the action. For a browser, a 204 means “stay where you are,” so a link or form that returns 204 doesn’t change the page. A 204 is cacheable by default.

## Where 204 is correct

- PUT or PATCH updates and DELETE requests in REST APIs.

- CORS preflight responses to `OPTIONS` requests.

- Analytics and tracking endpoints that only need to receive data.

- Connectivity checks: Android, for example, requests a `generate_204` URL to detect captive portals.

## SEO impact

For HTML pages, 204 is a bug. [Google’s documentation](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/http-network-errors) says Googlebot signals the indexing pipeline that it received no content, and Search Console may report the URL as a soft 404 in the Page indexing report. As far as Google is concerned, the page is empty, so it won’t rank. Ways it happens:

- A controller returns nothing. ASP.NET Core, for instance, turns a `null` result from an API action into 204.

- A route or middleware ends the response before the template renders.

- A CDN or edge rule written for a beacon path also matches real pages.

## How to fix and check

Make page routes always render a template with [200 OK](https://yes-seo.com/http-status-codes/200), or return [404](https://yes-seo.com/http-status-codes/404) when the item doesn’t exist, never an empty success. Scan important URLs with the [HTTP status checker](https://yes-seo.com/http-status-checker), and use the [HTTP header checker](https://yes-seo.com/http-header-checker) to see which layer answered. A correct 204, here for a CORS preflight:

```
OPTIONS /api/v1/cart HTTP/1.1
Host: api.example.com
Origin: https://www.example.com
Access-Control-Request-Method: PATCH

HTTP/1.1 204 No Content
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://www.example.com
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, POST, PATCH
Access-Control-Max-Age: 600
```

## Frequently asked questions

### Is 204 No Content an error?

No, it’s a success code. It just means there is nothing to return, which is normal for many API updates, deletions and preflight requests.

### Why does Search Console show a soft 404 for a page returning 204?

Google treats a 204 as “no content received.” A page with no content can’t be indexed, so Search Console may flag it as a soft 404. Make the page return 200 with its HTML.

### Should a DELETE request return 204 or 200?

Either is fine. Use 204 when there is nothing useful to return, and 200 when you send back a confirmation or the deleted item.