CURLOPT\_TIMEOUT\_MS(3) Library Functions Manual CURLOPT\_TIMEOUT\_MS(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

CURLOPT\_TIMEOUT\_MS - maximum time the transfer is allowed to complete

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

```
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT_MS, long timeout);
```

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Pass a long as parameter containing *timeout* - the maximum time in milliseconds that you allow the libcurl transfer operation to take.

See [*CURLOPT\_TIMEOUT(3)*](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_TIMEOUT.3) for details.

# [DEFAULT](#DEFAULT)

0 (zero) which means it never times out during transfer.

# [PROTOCOLS](#PROTOCOLS)

This functionality affects all supported protocols

# [EXAMPLE](#EXAMPLE)

```
int main(void)
{


  CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();


  if(curl) {


    CURLcode result;


    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");


    /* complete within 20000 milliseconds */


    curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT_MS, 20000L);


    result = curl_easy_perform(curl);


    curl_easy_cleanup(curl);


  }
}
```

# [AVAILABILITY](#AVAILABILITY)

Added in curl 7.16.2

# [RETURN VALUE](#RETURN_VALUE)

[*curl\_easy\_setopt(3)*](/man/os/curl/curl_easy_setopt.3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.

CURLE\_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred, see [*libcurl-errors(3)*](/man/os/curl/libcurl-errors.3).

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**CURLOPT\_CONNECTTIMEOUT**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT.3), [**CURLOPT\_LOW\_SPEED\_LIMIT**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_LOW_SPEED_LIMIT.3), [**CURLOPT\_TCP\_KEEPALIVE**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_TCP_KEEPALIVE.3), [**CURLOPT\_TIMEOUT**(3)](/man/os/curl/CURLOPT_TIMEOUT.3)

2026-10-01 libcurl

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Document: CURLOPT_TIMEOUT_MS(3) from curl 8.22.0-r4 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/curl/curl.git