- prototype in io.h - closes file fh where fh is file handle from _creat(), creat(), creatnew(), creattemp(), dup(), dup2(), _open(), or open(). - use fdopen() to change file handle to file stream. - does not write a Ctrl-Z to a text file on closing - returns 0 if OK; -1 & errno=EBADF - MS C uses _dos_close() - see INT 21,3E