How to get MVC action to return 404

Question

I have an action that takes in a string that is used to retrieve some data. If this string results in no data being returned (maybe because it has been deleted), I want to return a 404 and display an error page.

I currently just use return a special view that display a friendly error message specific to this action saying that the item was not found. This works fine, but would ideally like to return a 404 status code so search engines know that this content no longer exists and can remove it from the search results.

What is the best way to go about this?

Is it as simple as setting Response.StatusCode = 404?

you also have to keep Response.TrySkipIisCustomErrors = true; The answer by @ganders was a life saver... — Thunder, Jan 10 '15 at 11:28

score 156 · Answer 1 · edited Jul 29 '15 at 20:30

156

In ASP.NET MVC 3 and above you can return a HttpNotFoundResult from the controller.

return new HttpNotFoundResult("optional description");

edited Jul 29 '15 at 20:30

Christian Gollhardt

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answered Feb 01 '12 at 15:25

Stefan Paul Noack

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4

usage: `return new HttpNotFoundResult("optional description");` – Valamas Jun 16 '15 at 01:21
6

If you are returning from within the controller there is also a convenience method called `HttpNotFound()`. So you could return `return HttpNotFound("optional description")` instead. – Luis Perez Apr 24 '16 at 12:45
1

Things wren't that convenient back in 2012 ;-) – Stefan Paul Noack Aug 05 '17 at 12:05

score 121 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 29 '15 at 20:33

121

There are multiple ways to do it,

You are right in common aspx code it can be assigned in your specified way
throw new HttpException(404, "Some description");

edited Jul 29 '15 at 20:33

Christian Gollhardt

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answered Jun 01 '10 at 09:18

Dewfy

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One thing to watch out for is that if you have a customError page set up to handle 404 then this error page will return 200 (the not found page was found... :-( ). I tend to throw the exception from say BlogController and have the NotFound action set the proper response code. – Nigel Sampson Jun 01 '10 at 22:26
23

I ended up doing: Response.StatusCode = 404; Response.TrySkipIisCustomErrors = true; return View("MyCustomView"); This works perfectly in my situation. – Paul Hiles Jun 02 '10 at 13:42
@PaulHiles: This is the answer for me in MVC3. Wish I could upvote it as an answer rather than a comment. – Valamas Dec 23 '14 at 20:40
This doesn't work, I think, if using IIS. On my test site it works fine, but on the live site the custom error page kicks in. – Andy Brown Aug 16 '17 at 11:04
@AndyBrown it works for IIS as well as for IIS Express, you need review your configuration of IIS (Admin console) – Dewfy Aug 16 '17 at 14:20

score 66 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 10 '13 at 10:37

66

In MVC 4 and above you can use the built-in HttpNotFound helper methods:

if (notWhatIExpected)
{
    return HttpNotFound();
}

or

if (notWhatIExpected)
{
    return HttpNotFound("I did not find message goes here");
}

answered Jul 10 '13 at 10:37

iCollect.it Ltd

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score 27 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 18 '11 at 17:52

27

Code :

if (id == null)
{
  throw new HttpException(404, "Your error message");//RedirectTo NoFoundPage
}

Web.config

<customErrors mode="On">
  <error statusCode="404" redirect="/Home/NotFound" />
</customErrors>

edited Nov 18 '11 at 17:52

T.Rob

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answered Oct 28 '11 at 14:01

Sinan BARAN

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2

Also, all the available the status codes exist in this enum: HttpStatusCode. – user2173353 May 02 '14 at 13:52

score 16 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 13 '16 at 21:04

16

If you are working with .NET Core, you can return NotFound()

answered Aug 13 '16 at 21:04

Robert Paulsen

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score 11 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 19 '11 at 21:46

11

I've used this:

Response.StatusCode = 404;
return null;

answered Jun 19 '11 at 21:46

Wout

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Thank you. This looks way better than throwing a costly exception on server. Wonder if the 404 would be logged in IIS logs... ideally it would be. – fozylet Jan 29 '12 at 03:00
3

But, in asp.net ,this method is not a good solution, right? since the web page would display all related sensitive information of the server. – lzlstyle Nov 30 '13 at 08:33
2

One exception will take less than a millisecond to handle. Compared to the few hundred millseconds just to do a HTTP connection up and back it's meaningless. throw HttpException or return HttpNotFoundResult, manually setting the status code and returning null is terrible. – George Dec 15 '16 at 00:49

score 6 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 25 '14 at 05:48

6

None of the above examples worked for me until I added the middle line below:

public ActionResult FourOhFour()
{
    Response.StatusCode = 404;
    Response.TrySkipIisCustomErrors = true; // this line made it work
    return View();
}

answered Sep 25 '14 at 05:48

ganders

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Are you seriously telling me the simple `return HttpNotFound();` did not work for you? How old is your system? – iCollect.it Ltd Oct 08 '14 at 12:40
1

Did you try `return HttpNotFound();`? It works just fine with MVC 4 upwards. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.web.httpresponse.tryskipiiscustomerrors(v=vs.110).aspx "The TrySkipIisCustomErrors property is used only when your application is hosted in IIS 7.0. When running in Classic mode in IIS 7.0 the TrySkipIisCustomErrors property default value is true. When running in Integrated mode, the TrySkipIisCustomErrors property default value is false." – iCollect.it Ltd Oct 08 '14 at 12:57

score 5 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 01 '10 at 12:40

5

In NerdDinner eg. Try it

public ActionResult Details(int? id) {
    if (id == null) {
        return new FileNotFoundResult { Message = "No Dinner found due to invalid dinner id" };
    }
    ...
}

answered Jun 01 '10 at 12:40

cem

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Thanks, but behind the scenes, that throws an HttpException similar to suggestion number two in Dewfy's post. I am looking for a bit more control so I can display a nice error page specific to the action, not just redirecting to the controller / global 404 page. Looks as though setting the status code and returning to a custom view is the way to go for my situation. – Paul Hiles Jun 01 '10 at 15:29

feedthedogs · Answer 9 · 2017-05-16T11:04:59.923

4

In .NET Core 1.1:

return new NotFoundObjectResult(null);

edited May 16 '17 at 11:04

answered May 16 '17 at 10:55

feedthedogs

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If you are not returning an object then return NotFound() is more appropriate but in either case, you will not get a friendly error page unless you handle it with something like StatusCodePagesWithReExecute. See https://www.devtrends.co.uk/blog/handling-404-not-found-in-asp.net-core – Paul Hiles May 19 '17 at 15:28

score 3 · Answer 10 · answered Jun 01 '10 at 09:26

3

I use:

Response.Status = "404 NotFound";

This works for me :-)

answered Jun 01 '10 at 09:26

bruno

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score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 11 '16 at 15:07

0

You can also do:

        if (response.Data.IsPresent == false)
        {
            return StatusCode(HttpStatusCode.NoContent);
        }

answered Aug 11 '16 at 15:07

Christof Mehlstäubler

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score -1 · Answer 12 · answered Dec 05 '14 at 00:41

-1

Please try the following demo code:

public ActionResult Test()

{
　　return new HttpStatusCodeResult (404,"Not found");
}

answered Dec 05 '14 at 00:41

user4326800

1

How to get MVC action to return 404

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