What does Windows error code 3 (ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND) mean?

 
Could be also:
ConstantTypeOS
STATUS_WAIT_3NTSTATUSWindows
KERN_NO_SPACEKern returnMac
ippStsSqrtNegArgIntel Ipp StatusAny
ESRCHerrnoAny
INVALID_AFFINITY_SETBugCheck CodeWindows
Previous Next
ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND ERROR_TOO_MANY_OPEN_FILES

ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND

The directory path cannot be resolved

ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND indicates that Windows could not resolve one or more directory components in the supplied path. The final file name may be valid, but its parent path, drive mapping, share, or mount point is unavailable.

Checks to make

  • Confirm that every parent directory exists and is reachable.
  • For mapped drives, test the path in the same logon session as the failing process.
  • For UNC paths, verify the server and share names independently.
  • Inspect path normalization for missing separators or incorrectly combined segments.

Handling the result

Create missing directories only when the application owns that location. For network paths, preserve the original error and record the resolved UNC name rather than silently switching to a local fallback.

References


Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.