HTTP 405 Method Not Allowed — Meaning, Causes & How to Fix

Code

405

Name

Method Not Allowed

Class

4xx Client Error

Specification

RFC 9110 §15.5.6

Cacheable by default

Yes — heuristically cacheable by default

What HTTP 405 means

405 Method Not Allowed means the URL exists but does not accept this HTTP method — for example a POST to a read-only page. The server must send an Allow header listing the methods it does accept.

Common causes

• Sending POST to an endpoint that only supports GET (or the reverse).
• A static file server receiving PUT/DELETE.
• A missing route for that method in the framework.

How to fix it

For site owners

• Include the Allow header.
• Register the route for the method, or fix the client calling it.

For visitors & developers

• Check the API docs for the correct method and URL (a missing trailing slash can route to a different handler).

SEO impact

Not relevant for normal pages: crawlers use GET. If a page returns 405 to GET, it cannot be indexed.

Example 405 response

HTTP/1.1 405 Method Not Allowed
Allow: GET, HEAD
Content-Length: 0

Related status codes

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