wchar_t *s = NULL; FormatMessageW(FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS, NULL...

As the documentation for WSAGetLastError says you can use FormatMessage to obtain a text version of the error message. You need to set FORMAT_...

A slightly simpler version of mxcl's answer, which removes the need for malloc/free and the risks implicit therein, and which handles the case wher...

//Returns the last Win32 error, in string format. Returns an empty string if there is no error. std::string GetLastErrorAsString() { //Get the...

Updated (11/2017) to take into consideration some comments. Easy example: wchar_t buf[256]; FormatMessageW(FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM | FORMAT_MESS...

Since c++11, you can use the standard library instead of FormatMessage : #include <system_error> if (!SomeWin32Function()){ DWORD error = ::Ge...

MSDN has some sample code that demonstrates how to use FormatMessage() and GetLastError() together: Retrieving the Last-Error Code

GetLastError returns a numerical error code. To obtain a descriptive error message (e.g., to display to a user), you can call FormatMessage : //...

FormatMessage will turn GetLastError 's integer return into a text message.

In general, you need to use FormatMessage to convert from a Win32 error code to text. From the MSDN documentation : Formats a message string. Th...

If you're using c# you can use this code: using System.Runtime.InteropServices; public static class WinErrors { #region definitions [DllIm...

If you need to support MBCS as well as Unicode, Mr.C64's answer is not quite enough. The buffer must be declared TCHAR, and cast to LPTSTR. Note th...