ExitThread function

Namespace: Windows API

Header: processthreadsapi.h

Syntax

#include <processthreadsapi.h>

VOID WINAPI ExitThread(
    _In_ DWORD dwExitCode
);

Parameters

dwExitCode The exit code for the thread. It is available to the thread's creator via GetExitCodeThread.

Return value

This function does not return. The thread terminates and the exit code is made available to the thread’s creator.

Remarks

Calling ExitThread terminates the current thread and does not unwind the stack of other threads.
All thread local storage (TLS) callbacks are executed before the thread exits.
Do not call ExitThread from a DLL entry-point function; use FreeLibraryAndExitThread instead.
If the thread was created with CreateThread, the exit code can be retrieved by the creating thread using GetExitCodeThread.

Example

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>

DWORD WINAPI ThreadProc(LPVOID lpParameter)
{
    printf("Thread %d starting.\n", GetCurrentThreadId());
    // Perform work...
    ExitThread(0);
    // Never reached
    return 0;
}

int main(void)
{
    HANDLE hThread = CreateThread(
        NULL, 0, ThreadProc, NULL, 0, NULL);

    WaitForSingleObject(hThread, INFINITE);
    DWORD dwExitCode;
    GetExitCodeThread(hThread, &dwExitCode);
    printf("Thread exited with code %lu\\n", dwExitCode);
    CloseHandle(hThread);
    return 0;
}