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ERROR_SUCCESS
The operation completed successfully.
ERROR_SUCCESS is Windows system result 0 (0x00000000). Microsoft defines it as “The operation completed successfully.”
How to classify the result
This result represents successful completion, not an error. The correct interpretation depends on the exact API contract that returned zero and whether the API reports status directly, through BOOL plus GetLastError, or through an output structure.
Where it can appear
- This result can appear in a Win32 function that returns an explicit status code.
- This result can appear in a service, installer, or management command that serializes Win32 results.
- It can appear in telemetry that records success and failure in one numeric field.
Typical causes
- application code checks GetLastError after a successful call even though the function does not define that value on success.
- a wrapper treats zero as an absent optional value and drops useful success telemetry.
- an HRESULT or NTSTATUS conversion is applied to zero without recording the original result domain.
- a multi-step operation reports overall success even though an earlier optional step produced a warning.
Useful evidence
- Record producing API name and return type.
- Record raw return value before conversion.
- Record postcondition or output value proving completion.
- Record correlation ID for the larger operation.
- Record whether GetLastError was consulted and at what instruction boundary.
Recovery and retry
No remediation is required itself; continue only when the documented postconditions are satisfied.
Retry is unnecessary merely because the numeric value is zero. Repeat only when the caller has independent evidence that the intended state was not reached.
Difference from related results
It differs from informational statuses such as ERROR_VALIDATE_CONTINUE: zero normally terminates the operation successfully, whereas a continuation value requests another phase.
Example
A wrapper calls CreateDirectory, receives a nonzero BOOL, and then sees it in a stale or reset last-error slot. The correct test uses the BOOL result and verifies the directory, rather than treating the last-error value as the primary outcome.
Developer and administrator guidance
Developers should keep success values in logs when they close an incident timeline, but should not generate alerts. Administrators should verify the requested state instead of trying to “fix” code zero.
References
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