Getting Error Page when Accessing your Website – Error Codes and Quick Fixes

HTTP Error Codes


HTTP codes describe the status of a URL when a visitor tries to access it, and include error messages that result when visitors encounter problems on a website. The codes are three-digit numbers.

There are 5 classes of HTTP codes, divided into categories by the first digit.

* A first digit of 1, 2, or 3 represents a fully functional request. More information about these codes can be found in this article.
* A first digit of 4 represents a client-side error. The most common codes span 400 to 404.
* A first digit of 5 represents a server-side error. Common codes span 500 to 510.


4xx Errors

Although these errors are technically the result of a problem with the client’s (ie, the browser’s) request, oftentimes they point to a problem on a website. For example, if you have a faulty link on your home page, and visitors click it, they may see a 404 error.



400 Bad Request

The user’s request contains incorrect syntax. You have an error in your website html, php, oer perl code.



401 Unauthorized

The requested file requires authentication (a username 
and password).   The file or page is within a password protected directory.


403 Forbidden

The server will not allow the visitor to access the requested file. Eg; the file is uploaded to an area of the server not accessible by browser.



404 Not Found

The server could not find the file that the visitor requested. This generally is caused by the page does not exsist on the server, or the page name has been changed, or the page was moved.




5xx Errors

These errors are caused by the server being unable to fulfill an apparently valid request from a visitor.



500 Internal Server Error

This error signifies that the server has encountered an unexpected condition. This error can often becaused because a files permissions are not set correctly, or a service that the file requires is not active or available on the server.



501 Not Implemented

This signifies that the HTTP method sent by the client is not supported by the server.



502 Bad Gateway

This error is usually due to improperly configured proxy servers. However, the problem may also arise when there is poor IP communication amongst back-end computers, when the client’s ISP is overloaded, or when a firewall is functioning improperly.



503 Service Unavailable

This error occurs when the server is unable to handle requests due to a temporary overload or due to the server being temporarily closed for maintenance.



504 Gateway Timeout

This occurs when a server somewhere along the chain does not receive a timely response from a server further up the chain.



505 HTTP Version Not Supported

This error occurs when the server refuses to support the HTTP protocol that has been specified by the client computer.



506 Variant Also Negotiates

This error indicates that the server is not properly configured.



507 Insufficient Storage

This code indicates that the server is out of free memory. It is most likely to occur when an application being requested cannot allocate the necessary system resources for it to run.



509 Bandwidth Limit Exceeded

This error occurs when the bandwidth limit imposed by the system administrator has been reached.



510 Not Extended

This error occurs when an extension attached to the HTTP request is not supported by the web server.