What’s the difference between 200, 404 and 500 statuses?

When you visit a website, your browser talks to a server behind the scenes. During this conversation, the server sends back something called an “HTTP status code” — a simple number that tells the browser what’s going on. You usually don’t see these codes directly unless something goes wrong, but they’re always there, silently communicating. The most common ones are 200, 404, and 500, and each tells a different story about your web experience.

Let’s start with 200. This is the best-case scenario. When a server replies with a status code of 200, it means “OK.” Everything worked perfectly — the page exists, it loaded properly, and you’re seeing what you were supposed to see. You don’t see the number 200 on your screen, but it’s the server’s way of saying, “All good here!” So, every time a website loads normally, thank that little 200 code working quietly in the background.

Now, 404 is a code you’ve probably run into. It means “Not Found.” Basically, your browser asked the server for a specific page, and the server replied, “Sorry, I don’t have that one.” Maybe the page was deleted, moved, or the link you clicked was just broken. Websites can customize their 404 pages with fun messages or helpful links, but underneath it all, it’s still that 404 status code signaling something is missing.

Then we have 500. This one is more serious — it means “Internal Server Error.” This isn’t your fault as a visitor. It means something went wrong on the server’s side. Maybe a program crashed, a file is broken, or the server is just having a bad day. A 500 error usually shows up with a pretty generic message, and unlike a 404, it doesn’t mean the page doesn’t exist — it means something went wrong while trying to load it.

To put it in simple terms: 200 means everything is working great, 404 means the page couldn’t be found, and 500 means the server hit a snag and couldn’t do its job. These numbers might seem technical, but they help developers and website owners figure out what’s going right (or wrong) behind the scenes. And for everyday users, knowing just a bit about them can help make the internet feel a little less like a mystery.