Windows error 1421 (ERROR_CONTROL_ID_NOT

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: the requested child control identifier is not present under the dialog or parent window.

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ERROR_WINDOW_NOT_DIALOG	ERROR_INVALID_COMBOBOX_MESSAGE

ERROR_CONTROL_ID_NOT_FOUND

The control ID cannot be resolved

Control identifiers are parent-relative integers used for child lookup and WM_COMMAND routing. In dialog templates they come from the resource definition; for dynamically created child windows, the ID is supplied in the hMenu parameter of CreateWindowEx.

The error therefore points to the relationship between parent and child. A control can exist on screen but still be invisible to a lookup performed against the wrong dialog, a recreated parent, or a different resource variant.

What to check

Log both the parent HWND and numeric control ID.
Check the loaded dialog resource and conditional resource variants.
For dynamic controls, verify the creation parameter actually used the intended ID.
Do not pass a command ID or list-item index merely because its numeric value looks similar.

This differs from ERROR_LISTBOX_ID_NOT_FOUND, which is specifically tied to list-box lookup; the generic condition can involve any child control.

References

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