What does Windows error code 572 (ERROR_CONTROL_C_EXIT) mean?

ERROR_CONTROL_C_EXIT

What this result means

ERROR_CONTROL_C_EXIT is a Windows system result. The process ended because it received Ctrl+C or an equivalent console control event. In automation this commonly represents user cancellation, pipeline interruption, or a supervisor intentionally stopping a console program.

Why it can appear

• a user pressed Ctrl+C
• a parent process or console host generated CTRL_C_EVENT
• a build, script, or CI job propagated cancellation
• the program converted a control event into process termination without graceful cleanup

Troubleshooting steps

1. Record the console control event, parent process, session, timestamp, and exit code
2. distinguish Ctrl+C from Ctrl+Break, service stop, kill, timeout, and crash
3. Inspect whether a control handler ran and whether cleanup completed
4. in pipelines, identify which stage initiated cancellation

Correct recovery and handling

Treat it as cancellation when that matches the workflow. Save checkpoints, close files, and return a cancellation-specific status. Do not report it as an unexpected crash unless no control event was actually delivered.

Related and easily confused conditions

Shells may display the numeric value as a signed or unsigned exit code. Preserve the symbolic meaning so operators do not misclassify intentional cancellation.

References

• Microsoft: System error codes
• Microsoft: System error codes 500–999