HTTP 408 Request Timeout

What does HTTP 408 mean?

The server timed out waiting for the client to send the request. The connection was open but the client sent the request too slowly. Servers send 408 before closing idle keep-alive connections, and browsers usually retry automatically.

4xx Client error: The request has a problem the client can fix: wrong URL, missing credentials, bad data or too many requests.

Common causes of a 408 error

• Very slow or unstable client connection.
• Large uploads on slow networks.

How to fix 408 Request Timeout

• Retry the request; check the network.
• Increase the server’s client body timeout for large uploads.

408 and SEO

Occasional 408s are harmless. Frequent timeouts slow crawling.

Example response

HTTP/1.1 408 Request Timeout

Related status codes

• 504 Gateway Timeout — A gateway or proxy did not get a response from the upstream server in time.
• 499 Client Closed Request — Nginx logs 499 when the client closed the connection before the server answered.
• 413 Content Too Large — The request body is larger than the server allows.

Check which status code a URL returns with the HTTP header checker.