GetFileType function (fileapi.h)

Article
10/13/2021

Retrieves the file type of the specified file.

Syntax

DWORD GetFileType(
  [in] HANDLE hFile
);

Parameters

[in] hFile

A handle to the file.

Return value

The function returns one of the following values.

Return code/value	Description
FILE_TYPE_CHAR 0x0002	The specified file is a character file, typically an LPT device or a console.
FILE_TYPE_DISK 0x0001	The specified file is a disk file.
FILE_TYPE_PIPE 0x0003	The specified file is a socket, a named pipe, or an anonymous pipe.
FILE_TYPE_REMOTE 0x8000	Unused.
FILE_TYPE_UNKNOWN 0x0000	Either the type of the specified file is unknown, or the function failed.

You can distinguish between a "valid" return of FILE_TYPE_UNKNOWN and its return due to a calling error (for example, passing an invalid handle to GetFileType) by calling GetLastError.

If the function worked properly and FILE_TYPE_UNKNOWN was returned, a call to GetLastError will return NO_ERROR.

If the function returned FILE_TYPE_UNKNOWN due to an error in calling GetFileType, GetLastError will return the error code.

Remarks

In Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, this function is supported by the following technologies.

Technology	Supported
Server Message Block (SMB) 3.0 protocol	Yes
SMB 3.0 Transparent Failover (TFO)	Yes
SMB 3.0 with Scale-out File Shares (SO)	Yes
Cluster Shared Volume File System (CsvFS)	Yes
Resilient File System (ReFS)	Yes

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows XP [desktop apps \| UWP apps]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps \| UWP apps]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	fileapi.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Kernel32.lib
DLL	Kernel32.dll