Environment.Exit(Int32) Method

Definition

Terminates this process and returns an exit code to the operating system.

public static void Exit (int exitCode);

Parameters

exitCode
Int32

The exit code to return to the operating system. Use 0 (zero) to indicate that the process completed successfully.

Exceptions

The caller does not have sufficient security permission to perform this function.

Remarks

For the exitCode parameter, use a non-zero number to indicate an error. In your application, you can define your own error codes in an enumeration, and return the appropriate error code based on the scenario. For example, return a value of 1 to indicate that the required file is not present, and a value of 2 to indicate that the file is in the wrong format. For a list of exit codes used by the Windows operating system, see System Error Codes in the Windows documentation.

Calling the Exit method differs from using your programming language's return statement in the following ways:

  • Exit always terminates an application. Using the return statement may terminate an application only if it is used in the application entry point, such as in the Main method.

  • Exit terminates an application immediately, even if other threads are running. If the return statement is called in the application entry point, it causes an application to terminate only after all foreground threads have terminated.

  • Exit requires the caller to have permission to call unmanaged code. The return statement does not.

  • If Exit is called from a try or catch block, the code in any finally block does not execute. If the return statement is used, the code in the finally block does execute.

  • If Exit is called when code in a constrained execution region (CER) is running, the CER will not complete execution. If the return statement is used, the CER completes execution.

Applies to

Product Versions
.NET Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
.NET Framework 1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1