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WINDOWS · 0x00000020 ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION

How to fix Windows error 0x00000020

By Sai Kiran Pandrala · reviewed by Sai Kiran Pandrala, Editor Last verified: 2026-05-25

⚡ At a glance
Error code0x00000020
Decimal32
Symbolic nameERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION
PlatformWindows
Official messageThe process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.
SourceMicrosoft Win32 system error codes

What is 0x00000020?

Real-world context. Cost envelope: ~Rs 0 INR (configuration fix in most cases). Time at the keyboard: ~10 to 30 minutes triage. Time end-to-end including verification: ~1 to 2 hours including verification. Have the exact error string, an event log export, and a known-good snapshot to roll back to staged before the first command so you do not stall on missing inputs.

0x00000020 is a Windows system error code that bubbles up from the Windows kernel synchronization layer. The symbolic name ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION belongs to the Windows kernel synchronization layer, so when you see it the failure is almost always related to that area, not the app that happens to print the message. In plain English: the system is reporting that the process is unable to access the file because it is being used by another process.

Application logs treat 0x00000020 as opaque, which is why the fix usually involves dropping one layer down: check the underlying API call, the OS resource it touched, and the permissions or state at the moment of the call. The original message is short on context for a reason. The kernel returns the code; the friendly text is up to whichever shell or app surfaces it.

When does 0x00000020 appear?

0x00000020 shows up in a handful of recurring situations. Knowing which one you are in saves you from random chair-spinning. Walk through the list below and tick off the scenario that matches what you were doing when the error landed.

How serious is 0x00000020?

Severity: Medium-high. If you see this repeatedly across processes, the host is under resource pressure and other services will start failing soon. Treat repeated occurrences as a planning trigger, not a one-off. The error code itself is just a status return, the real question is what the caller was trying to do at the moment it fired. Always pair the code with the timestamp and the surrounding event log entries before deciding what to repair.

How to fix 0x00000020

Detect the failure (PowerShell, run as Administrator)

# Confirm that 0x00000020 is what you are looking at.
$errCode = [int]32
[System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception]::new($errCode).Message

# Pull recent system + application errors that match this code.
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; Level=1,2,3; StartTime=(Get-Date).AddHours(-24)} -MaxEvents 200 |
  Where-Object { $_.Message -match '0x00000020' -or $_.Message -match 'ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION' } |
  Select-Object TimeCreated, Id, ProviderName, Message | Format-List

Fix: process and handle pressure check

# 1. List the top 10 processes by handle count, then by memory.
Get-Process | Sort-Object HandleCount -Descending |
  Select-Object -First 10 Name, Id, HandleCount, WS

Get-Process | Sort-Object WS -Descending |
  Select-Object -First 10 Name, Id, WS, CPU

# 2. Restart the offending service or kill the offending process.
Stop-Process -Id <PID> -Force

# 3. If the kernel pool is exhausted, schedule a clean reboot.
shutdown /r /t 30 /c 'Reboot to clear pool pressure'

Verify the fix

# 1. Re-trigger the original operation and confirm no new event lands.
$before = Get-Date
# (run the previously failing command here)
Get-WinEvent -LogName System -MaxEvents 50 |
  Where-Object { $_.TimeCreated -ge $before -and $_.Message -match '0x00000020' }

# 2. Decode the error code one more time to confirm it is gone.
net helpmsg 32

Short-term workarounds for 0x00000020

If you cannot fix the root cause right now, these reduce the impact without papering over the real issue:

Quick verify checklist for 0x00000020

Frequently asked questions

What does 0x00000020 mean exactly?

The system is reporting that the process is unable to access the file because it is being used by another process.

Is 0x00000020 dangerous?

By itself this surfaces as a warning, not a critical failure. It surfaces as a status line, not an attack indicator. What matters is the failure it points to: a denied permission, a missing module, or a resource limit you crossed. Repair the underlying cause and the code stops appearing.

Will reinstalling fix 0x00000020?

Treat it as a last resort. Most occurrences of this code resolve with a permission fix, a registry edit, or a driver rollback long before a reinstall becomes useful. Reach for the install media only after the in-box repair stack and a chkdsk pass both come back clean.

How is 0x00000020 different from 0x80070005?

Same neighbourhood, different owners. 0x00000020 came from the path you are debugging, while other codes in the range come from their own services and need their own fixes. Confirm the exact code before assuming the steps overlap.

How do I find out which process is throwing 0x00000020?

Start with Event Viewer. Filter the System and Application logs by the time you saw 0x00000020, then look at ProviderName and ProcessId. From an elevated PowerShell prompt, Get-WinEvent with a filter on those fields and a Message -like '*0x00000020*' clause narrows it down to the exact emitter.

Codes that sit in neighbouring corners of the same subsystem. Worth a glance if the fix above did not land:

Related guides worth a look while you sort this one out:

References

Field notes from real Windows incidents

When I work on the 0x00000020 symptom the rhythm I lean on is the one I have built over years of these tickets, not a stack of generic advice. STOP codes look terrifying but the first DWORD almost always points directly at the responsible driver. Windows error codes come in a handful of families; once you recognise the family, the doc page is one search away.

Reliability Monitor is the single most underused triage surface in Windows — it gives 30 days of crash history without writing a query. DISM RestoreHealth needs network or a known-good source image; the most common cause of a failed RestoreHealth is a blocked Windows Update endpoint.

Tools I actually reach for

For the 0x00000020 symptom on Windows the cheapest signal I can land usually comes from DISM and sfc, then Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc), Windows Performance Recorder when DISM and sfc cannot see the layer the fault sits in, and Windows Error Lookup Tool (err.exe) for the cases where neither of those answers cleanly. That ordering is not academic. It matches the layers the failure tends to surface through, so the cheap signal lands first and the heavier tooling only comes out when the simpler answer does not hold up under scrutiny.

Verification I run before I close the ticket

Before I mark the 0x00000020 symptom resolved on a Windows unit, the verification loop below is what I actually run. Each step proves a different layer is green, and the order matters - the cheap checks gate the more expensive ones.

wevtutil epl System system.evtx  # export for offline review

If that one comes back clean, move to the next check. If it does not, stop and dig in there before layering more verification on top of a red signal.

err.exe 0xXXXXXXXX  # symbolic decode

If that one comes back clean, move to the next check. If it does not, stop and dig in there before layering more verification on top of a red signal.

Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; Level=1,2; StartTime=(Get-Date).AddDays(-7)}

Only when every line above runs clean do I close the ticket and update the runbook with the timestamps.

Where I check first when the docs disagree

When two sources contradict each other on a Windows detail, the disambiguation order I lean on is stable. I usually start at github.com/microsoft/Windows-Driver-Frameworks for the ground-truth view on Windows. I usually start at learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/debug/system-error-codes for the ground-truth view on Windows. I usually start at support.microsoft.com for the ground-truth view on Windows. I usually start at techcommunity.microsoft.com/category/windows for the ground-truth view on Windows. Random blog posts and reseller wikis are signal, not ground truth, and I treat them as such until the references above either confirm or contradict the claim.

Pitfalls I have walked into on this exact path

The shortcuts that look smart on the 0x00000020 symptom have a habit of biting back. The pitfalls below are the ones I have personally walked into on a Windows unit, not things I read about. STOP codes look terrifying but the first DWORD almost always points directly at the responsible driver. Windows error codes come in a handful of families; once you recognise the family, the doc page is one search away. When in doubt I revert to the slower path that the manual prescribes - the time I save by skipping it is always smaller than the time I spend cleaning up afterwards.

What I tell the next on-call

When I hand the 0x00000020 symptom off to the next person on rotation, the three lines I leave in the runbook are these. First, the symptom signature for Windows on the Windows family - not a paraphrase, the exact string that surfaces. Second, the diagnostic that gave the highest signal in the least time. Third, the exact verification command whose green output justified closing the ticket. That trio is what turns a one-off fix into a runbook entry the next engineer can use without paging me at three in the morning.

I also add a one-line note on the cost of getting this wrong. For the 0x00000020 symptom on a Windows unit, the cost is rarely the replacement part. It is the downtime, the second site visit, and the trust deficit you spend with whoever owns the asset when the fix does not hold. That framing keeps the next on-call from choosing the cheap-looking shortcut that ends up costing the most in elapsed hours and goodwill.