| Previous | Next |
| ERROR_LOGON_SERVER_CONFLICT | ERROR_NET_OPEN_FAILED |
ERROR_SYNCHRONIZATION_REQUIRED
What this result means
ERROR_SYNCHRONIZATION_REQUIRED is a Windows system result. The local Security Accounts Manager data must be synchronized with the authoritative domain source before the requested operation can proceed.
Why it can appear
- replication is pending, blocked, or has failed
- the machine resumed from a stale snapshot or backup
- network, DNS, or time problems prevent contact with the authoritative controller
- a role transition or restore left local account data behind the domain state
Diagnostic workflow
- collect SAM, Netlogon, Directory Service, replication, DNS, and time-service events
- identify the authoritative controller and last successful synchronization
- check secure-channel health and network reachability
- record any restore, clone, rollback, or offline period
Correct recovery and handling
Restore domain connectivity and complete supported synchronization or recovery procedures. Do not edit SAM files manually or force local changes that can conflict with the authoritative copy.
Administrator and support checklist
- confirm whether the condition is isolated to one machine, one user, one file, or one application build.
- Compare the host reporting this result with a known-good system using the same Windows edition and policy.
- Review updates, drivers, security-policy changes, restores, and infrastructure incidents that preceded this result.
- Preserve logs and dumps associated with this result before rebooting when the failure may be intermittent or destructive.
- Use vendor-supported repair or rollback steps for this Win32 error instead of copying system files or disabling protections ad hoc.
Developer guidance
When handling it, log the API or subsystem that returned it, the first lower-level failure, relevant object identifiers, process and thread context, and safe operation parameters. Preserve the original numeric Value rather than converting it to an unrelated HRESULT or NTSTATUS. Retry it only when the evidence shows a transient dependency; deterministic it cases involving policy, format, compatibility, or integrity should fail fast.
What to record in telemetry
- Windows build, architecture, and component version for the result event
- the first result timestamp and the operation then in progress
- process, thread, session, and target object associated with it
- warnings or lower-layer status values immediately preceding it
- whether retry, restart, rollback, or repair changed the result outcome
Example investigation pattern
Investigate it by reproducing the operation once with detailed logging, then correlate that timestamp with Windows events and lower-layer traces. Compare the affected object or process with a known-good one, change one variable at a time, and stop retrying When it is deterministic. That method keeps the first relevant failure from being hidden by secondary cleanup messages.
Related and easily confused conditions
This is a consistency requirement, not simply a transient busy signal. Retrying is useful only after the underlying synchronization path is healthy.
Operational note
Do not diagnose it from its text alone. The result can cross subsystem boundaries and may summarize an earlier, more specific event. The first failure in time is normally more useful than the last message printed during cleanup.
References
Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.