DELETE request method
TheDELETE HTTP method asks the server to delete a specified resource.
Requests usingDELETE should only be used to delete data and shouldn't contain a body.
Note:The semantics of sending a message body inDELETE requests are undefined.Some servers may reject the request with a4XX client error response.
| Request has body | No |
|---|---|
| Successful response has body | May |
| Safe | No |
| Idempotent | Yes |
| Cacheable | No |
| Allowed inHTML forms | No |
Syntax
DELETE <request-target>["?"<query>] HTTP/1.1<request-target>Identifies the target resource of the request when combined with the information provided in the
Hostheader.This is an absolute path (e.g.,/path/to/file.html) in requests to an origin server, and an absolute URL in requests to proxies (e.g.,http://www.example.com/path/to/file.html).<query>OptionalAn optional query component preceded by a question-mark
?.Often used to carry identifying information in the form ofkey=valuepairs.
Examples
Successfully deleting a resource
The following request asks the server to delete the resourcefile.html:
DELETE /file.html HTTP/1.1Host: example.comIf the request is successful, there are several possiblesuccessful response status codes.A204 No Content response means the request was successful and no additional information needs to be sent back to the client:
HTTP/1.1 204 No ContentDate: Wed, 04 Sep 2024 10:16:04 GMTA200 OK response means the request was successful and the response body includes a representation describing the outcome:
HTTP/1.1 200 OKContent-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2024 14:18:33 GMTContent-Length: 1234<html lang="en-US"> <body> <h1>File "file.html" deleted.</h1> </body></html>A202 Accepted response means the request has been accepted and will probably succeed, but the resource has not yet been deleted by the server.
HTTP/1.1 202 AcceptedDate: Wed, 26 Jun 2024 12:00:00 GMTContent-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8Content-Length: 1234<html lang="en-US"> <body> <h1>Deletion of "file.html" accepted.</h1> <p>See <a href="http://example.com/tasks/123/status">the status monitor</a> for details.</p> </body></html>Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| HTTP Semantics # name-delete |
Browser compatibility
The browser doesn't use theDELETE method for user-initiated actions, so "browser compatibility" doesn't apply.Developers can set this request method usingfetch().