cancel_delayed_work(9)

💅 cancel_delayed_work — the "nvm bestie, never mind" of kernel workqueues

okay so this one's from the Kernel API Manual (cancel_delayed_work(9)), and honestly? it's giving "I changed my mind" energy and I'm obsessed. let's get into it 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

bool cancel_delayed_work (struct delayed_work *dwork );

like, you hand it a struct delayed_work *dwork and it hands you back a bool. simple as that, no cap. 🌸

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🫶 ARGUMENTS 🫶

• dwork — the delayed_work you wanna cancel. that's the one, bestie. that's your girl. 💅

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🔥 DESCRIPTION 🔥

Kill off a pending delayed_work. that's it. that's the whole vibe. you had something scheduled, you're un-scheduling it. bye 👋💀

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🌈 RETURN 🌈

• true — dwork was pending and it got canceled. slay, you got it. ✅
• false — it wasn't pending. so like… nothing to cancel, nothing happened. 🙈

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⚠️ NOTE ⚠️

okay this is the part where you actually pay attention, bestie, because it's lowkey important 😭

The work callback function may still be running when this returns — unless it returns true and the work doesn't re-arm itself. so don't just assume it's gone-gone. if you need to actually wait on it, you gotta explicitly flush or use cancel_delayed_work_sync instead. no shortcuts here. 🫶

and the good news? This function is safe to call from any context including IRQ handler. yes, even there. iconic. 👑

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💖 SEE ALSO 💖

Kernel file ./kernel/workqueue.c — and then a truly massive friend group, fr fr:

for_each_pool(9), for_each_pool_worker(9), for_each_pwq(9), worker_pool_assign_id(9), unbound_effective_cpumask(9), get_work_pool(9), worker_set_flags(9), worker_clr_flags(9), worker_enter_idle(9), worker_leave_idle(9), find_worker_executing_work(9), move_linked_works(9), assign_work(9), kick_pool_pick(9), kick_pool(9), wq_worker_running(9), wq_worker_sleeping(9), wq_worker_tick(9), wq_worker_last_func(9), wq_node_nr_active(9), wq_update_node_max_active(9), get_pwq(9), put_pwq(9), put_pwq_unlocked(9), pwq_tryinc_nr_active(9), pwq_activate_first_inactive(9), unplug_oldest_pwq(9), node_activate_pending_pwq(9), pwq_dec_nr_active(9), pwq_dec_nr_in_flight(9), try_to_grab_pending(9), work_grab_pending(9), insert_work(9), queue_work_on(9), select_numa_node_cpu(9), queue_work_node(9), queue_delayed_work_on(9), mod_delayed_work_on(9), queue_rcu_work(9), worker_attach_to_pool(9), worker_detach_from_pool(9), create_worker(9), set_worker_dying(9), idle_worker_timeout(9), idle_cull_fn(9), maybe_create_worker(9), manage_workers(9), process_one_work(9), process_scheduled_works(9), worker_thread(9), rescuer_thread(9), check_flush_dependency(9), insert_wq_barrier(9), flush_workqueue_prep_pwqs(9), __flush_workqueue(9), drain_workqueue(9), flush_work(9), flush_delayed_work(9), flush_rcu_work(9), cancel_work_sync(9), cancel_delayed_work_sync(9), disable_work(9), disable_work_sync(9), enable_work(9), disable_delayed_work(9), disable_delayed_work_sync(9), enable_delayed_work(9), schedule_on_each_cpu(9), execute_in_process_context(9), free_workqueue_attrs(9), alloc_workqueue_attrs(9), init_worker_pool(9), put_unbound_pool(9), get_unbound_pool(9), wq_calc_pod_cpumask(9), apply_workqueue_attrs(9), unbound_wq_update_pwq(9), wq_adjust_max_active(9), destroy_workqueue(9), workqueue_set_max_active(9), workqueue_set_min_active(9), current_work(9), current_is_workqueue_rescuer(9), current_is_workqueue_mem_reclaim(9), workqueue_congested(9), work_busy(9), set_worker_desc(9), print_worker_info(9), show_one_workqueue(9), show_one_worker_pool(9), show_all_workqueues(9), show_freezable_workqueues(9), rebind_workers(9), restore_unbound_workers_cpumask(9), work_on_cpu_key(9), freeze_workqueues_begin(9), freeze_workqueues_busy(9), thaw_workqueues(9), workqueue_unbound_housekeeping_update(9), workqueue_set_unbound_cpumask(9), workqueue_sysfs_register(9), workqueue_sysfs_unregister(9), workqueue_init_early(9), workqueue_init(9), llc_count_cores(9), llc_populate_cpu_shard_id(9), precompute_cache_shard_ids(9), workqueue_init_topology(9)

like genuinely that's the whole friend group in the group chat 💀💖

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and that's the tea ☕ — this gem lives in ./kernel, it's the October 2026 edition, and it answers to the name cancel_delayed_work(9). go cancel something, bestie, you got this 🦋✨