Windows error 50 (ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED): meaning and diagnosis

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: The requested operation or capability is not supported by the target component.

Could be also:
Constant	Type	OS
KERN_CODESIGN_ERROR	Kern return	Mac
ippStsUnknownFeature	Intel Ipp Status	Any
ENOCSI	errno	Linux
ENETDOWN	errno	Mac
EBADE	errno	Solaris
PHASE1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED	BugCheck Code	Windows

Previous	Next
ERROR_HANDLE_DISK_FULL	ERROR_REM_NOT_LIST

ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED

The requested operation is unsupported

ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED means that the selected device, file system, provider, protocol, or Windows component does not implement the requested operation. The API itself may be valid while the specific target or configuration lacks the capability.

What to check

Record the exact API, operation flags, and target object.
Check whether support depends on the Windows version, file-system type, driver, transport, or optional feature.
Query capabilities before using optional operations when the API provides a feature-discovery mechanism.
Avoid translating this result into an authorization error; changing permissions normally does not add support.

How to handle it

Retry only after changing the operation, target, or configuration. A fallback should preserve correctness rather than silently dropping required behavior.

References

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