---
title: IOMalloc
framework: driverkit
role: symbol
role_heading: Function
path: driverkit/iomalloc
---

# IOMalloc

Allocates the specified amount of general-purpose memory.

## Declaration

```occ
void *IOMalloc(size_t length);
```

## Parameters

- `length`: The number of bytes to allocate.

## Return Value

Return Value A pointer to the allocated memory block, or NULL on failure.

## Discussion

Discussion This is a general-purpose utility to allocate memory. There are no alignment guarantees on the returned memory, and alignment may vary depending on the configuration. To allocate memory for use in I/O transfers, create an IOBufferMemoryDescriptor instead.

## See Also

### Allocation

- [IONew](driverkit/ionew.md)
- [IONewZero](driverkit/ionewzero.md)
- [IOMallocZero](driverkit/iomalloczero.md)
- [OSTypeAlloc](driverkit/ostypealloc.md)