Summary
Symptoms
When trying to access VCU sites (such as Canvas, myVCU, etc) you encounter the following error: 400 Bad Request. Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Variants:
- 400 Bad Request
- Bad Request. Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
- Bad Request - Invalid URL
- HTTP Error 400 - Bad Request
- Bad Request: Error 400
- HTTP Error 400. The request hostname is invalid.
- 400 - Bad request. The request could not be understood by the server due to malformed syntax. The client should not repeat the request without modifications
This error can happen with any site, but is most often reported to the ITSC as impacting VCU-related sites
Environment
Chrome
Solution
Clear your cookies and cache following the instructions at How to clear your browser cache and cookies.
Cause
400 Bad Request errors occur when a request sent to a website server is somehow incorrect or corrupted, and could not be understood by the server. It can occur from entering or pasting an incorrect URL in the address bar, but can also be caused by corrupt or old cookies or cached data stored in the browser. If the error is occurring on nearly every website you visit, the problem is most likely rooted in your internet connection speeds.
Outcome
Once you have cleared your cache and cookies, you will be able to successfully load sites without the Bad Request error.