wailsapp/wails · error

GlobalFree failed

Error message

GlobalFree failed

What it means

Error "GlobalFree failed" thrown in wailsapp/wails.

Source

Thrown at v3/pkg/w32/kernel32.go:135

}

func GlobalAlloc(uFlags uint, dwBytes uint32) HGLOBAL {
	ret, _, _ := procGlobalAlloc.Call(
		uintptr(uFlags),
		uintptr(dwBytes))

	if ret == 0 {
		panic("GlobalAlloc failed")
	}

	return HGLOBAL(ret)
}

func GlobalFree(hMem HGLOBAL) {
	ret, _, _ := procGlobalFree.Call(uintptr(hMem))

	if ret != 0 {
		panic("GlobalFree failed")
	}
}

func GlobalLock(hMem HGLOBAL) unsafe.Pointer {
	ret, _, _ := procGlobalLock.Call(uintptr(hMem))

	if ret == 0 {
		panic("GlobalLock failed")
	}

	return unsafe.Pointer(ret)
}

func GlobalUnlock(hMem HGLOBAL) bool {
	ret, _, _ := procGlobalUnlock.Call(uintptr(hMem))

	return ret != 0
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 0e754b1b40)

Solutions

1. Only free a handle returned by GlobalAlloc; freeing an invalid, already-freed, or locked memory handle makes GlobalFree fail.
2. Unlock the memory with GlobalUnlock before freeing it if it is still locked.
3. Set the handle to zero after freeing and do not use it again to avoid double-free failures.

When it happens

Trigger: Occurs when GlobalFree returns non-NULL, indicating the memory handle is invalid or the memory has already been freed.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of wailsapp/wails@0e754b1b40 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f1a31f6190ac986b. Report an issue: GitHub.