How to Handle Errors in Deferred Functions

Error Handling
2026-04-17T12:05:42+00:00
Defer statements cannot prevent error returns; handle errors immediately after the call or use defer only for cleanup and logging.

You cannot handle errors inside a defer function to prevent the original function from returning them; defer only delays execution until the surrounding function returns. To handle errors, check them immediately after the call or use a wrapper function that captures the error and logs it before returning.

func process() error {
    defer func() {
        if r := recover(); r != nil {
            // Handle panic, not error return
            log.Println("Recovered from panic:", r)
        }
    }()
    
    err := doWork()
    if err != nil {
        return err // Error propagates up
    }
    return nil
}

If you need to perform cleanup on error, do it before returning:

func process() error {
    err := doWork()
    if err != nil {
        cleanup() // Run cleanup logic here
        return err
    }
    return nil
}