Do browsers clear the form on a 205?
No mainstream browser resets a form for you. Treat 205 as a 204 in practice and clear the form yourself in JavaScript when the request succeeds, or redirect to a fresh empty form.
HTTP 205 RESET CONTENT
Success; the client should reset the form or view that sent the request. 205 belongs to the 2xx success class and is defined in RFC 9110.
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About HTTP 205
What Does HTTP 205 Reset Content Mean?
Success; the client should reset the form or view that sent the request. The code is registered with IANA and defined in RFC 9110.
Success: the request was received, understood, and accepted. Every code from 200 to 299 shares that general meaning, so a client that does not recognise 205 must treat it like 200.
When Do You See a 205 Response?
205 Reset Content tells the client the request succeeded and it should reset the view that sent it, typically clearing a form so the user can enter another record. It was designed for data-entry applications that submit repeatedly from the same screen. Browsers never implemented the reset behaviour for normal page navigation, so in web applications it behaves like a 204: the page stays where it is and nothing is cleared automatically.
How Do You Handle a 205?
Like 204, a 205 must not carry a body. Servers should send Content-Length: 0 or use chunked encoding with an empty body. If you want a form cleared after submission in a browser, do it in client-side code after a successful response, or use the post/redirect/get pattern with a 303, because relying on browsers to honor 205 will not work.
What Does a 205 Response Look Like?
HTTP/1.1 205 Reset Content
Content-Length: 0205 is not cacheable by default: a browser or CDN stores it only when Cache-Control or Expires explicitly allows it.
To inspect a real one without sending it anywhere:
- Copy the response headers from your browser Network tab, or from
curl -i. - Paste them into the Header decoder to see every header explained.
- Check caching in the Cache lane.
Which Status Codes Are Related to 205?
- 204 No Content: Success with no body. Common for DELETE and for saves that return nothing.
- 200 OK: The request succeeded. The body depends on the method.
- 303 See Other: Go GET a different URL, typically after a form POST (post/redirect/get).
Browse every code on the HTTP status codes page.
What Other Lanes Are in the Reference Section?
- HTTP status codes: Every IANA-registered status code, with a page per code.
- MIME types: File extensions to Content-Type, searchable both ways, plus a Content-Type parser.
- HTTP methods: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE and the rest: safe, idempotent, cacheable.
Elsewhere in 2http: Header decoder, Cookie decoder, Cache-Control decoder, CORS checker, User-agent parser, and all eleven lanes on the 2http home page. Part of the 2suite.io privacy-first ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a 205 response include a body?
No. RFC 9110 forbids content in a 205. The server should send Content-Length: 0 or an empty chunked body.
Is HTTP 205 an error?
No. 205 is a success response, not an error.
Is a 205 response cacheable by default?
No. Caches store a 205 only when Cache-Control or Expires explicitly allows it.
How Can You Verify That Nothing Leaves This Browser?
You do not have to take our word that your headers stay here. Developer tools show every request a page makes, so you can watch this page work and confirm that nothing is sent. The check takes under a minute.
- Open your browser developer tools with
F12, orCmd+Option+Ion a Mac, and select the Network tab. - Reload the page and let it finish. You will see the page's own files, its web fonts, and one anonymous page-view request. Nothing has been typed yet, so none of them can contain your headers.
- Click the clear icon in the Network tab so that the log is empty.
- Paste real headers into any lane and read the result.
- Look at the Network tab again. It is still empty. For extra proof, turn on offline mode after the page loads and every lane keeps working.
Only two things can add a line to that log, and neither carries your headers. Submitting the feedback form sends the vote and comment you typed. Typing characters in a script the page has not displayed yet, such as Cyrillic or Greek, can make the browser fetch the matching font file, and that request names only the font.
2http never sends a request on your behalf: the request builder writes code for you to run, and the meta inspector reads source you paste instead of fetching a URL. The production site also sends a Content-Security-Policy header that tells your browser to refuse connections to anywhere except this site and the anonymous analytics endpoint.