curl_global_cleanup(3) Library Functions Manual curl_global_cleanup(3)
NAME
curl_global_cleanup - global libcurl cleanup
SYNOPSIS
#include <curl/curl.h>
void curl_global_cleanup(void);
DESCRIPTION
This function releases resources acquired by curl_global_init(3).
You should call curl_global_cleanup(3) once for each call you make to
curl_global_init(3), after you are done using libcurl.
This function is thread-safe since libcurl 7.84.0 if curl_ver-
sion_info(3) has the CURL_VERSION_THREADSAFE feature bit set (most plat-
forms).
If this is not thread-safe, you must not call this function when any
other thread in the program (i.e. a thread sharing the same memory) is
running. This does not just mean no other thread that is using libcurl.
Because curl_global_cleanup(3) calls functions of other libraries that
are similarly thread unsafe, it could conflict with any other thread
that uses these other libraries.
See the description in libcurl(3) of global environment requirements for
details of how to use this function.
CAUTION
curl_global_cleanup(3) does not block waiting for any libcurl-created
threads to terminate (such as threads used for name resolving). If a
module containing libcurl is dynamically unloaded while libcurl-created
threads are still running then your program may crash or other corrup-
tion may occur. We recommend you do not run libcurl from any module that
may be unloaded dynamically. This behavior may be addressed in the fu-
ture.
libcurl may not be able to fully clean up after multi-threaded OpenSSL
depending on how OpenSSL was built and loaded as a library. It is possi-
ble in some rare circumstances a memory leak could occur unless you im-
plement your own OpenSSL thread cleanup. Refer to libcurl-thread(3).
PROTOCOLS
This functionality affects all supported protocols
EXAMPLE
int main(void)
{
curl_global_init(CURL_GLOBAL_DEFAULT);
/* use libcurl, then before exiting... */
curl_global_cleanup();
}
AVAILABILITY
Added in curl 7.8
RETURN VALUE
None
SEE ALSO
curl_global_init(3), libcurl(3), libcurl-thread(3)
libcurl 2026-07-12 curl_global_cleanup(3)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Sat Oct 3 05:09:32 CEST 2026.