Windows error 10093 (WSANOTINITIALISED): meaning and diagnosis

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: Either the application has not called WSAStartup, or WSAStartup failed.

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WSANOTINITIALISED

WSANOTINITIALISED means that the thread or process used a Winsock function before a successful WSAStartup call established the Winsock environment.

Common causes

A library calls socket functions before the application initialization sequence is complete.
WSACleanup is called too early while another component still owns sockets.
Startup failed, but the error was ignored and later calls continued.

What to do

Define clear ownership for Winsock lifetime. Pair each successful WSAStartup with the matching cleanup only after all socket users are finished, and propagate startup failure rather than allowing later calls to fail ambiguously.

Microsoft: WSAStartup · Microsoft: connect

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