Solana swap errors: what they mean and how to fix them

"Slippage tolerance exceeded" · 0x1771 · error 6001

What happened: between the moment you got the quote and the moment the swap ran, the price moved more than your slippage setting allowed. The swap was cancelled to protect you from a worse price.

Fix: retry first (prices move fast). If it keeps failing, raise slippage a little: around 0.5% for liquid pairs like SOL/USDC, 1% to 3% for volatile tokens. If your order is large, the real problem may be your size: simulate it to see how much it moves the price, and split it.

Very high slippage (10%+) gets filled, but makes you an easy target for sandwich bots that buy just before you and sell just after.

"Blockhash not found" · "Transaction expired"

What happened: a Solana transaction is valid for only about 60 to 90 seconds. It was not included in a block in time, usually because the network was busy and your priority fee was too low.

Fix: retry with a higher priority fee. Check what other swaps are paying right now: the "High" level is a good default during busy periods.

"Insufficient funds" · "Insufficient lamports" · "Attempt to debit an account but found no record of a prior credit"

What happened: you don't have enough SOL. Every transaction pays a network fee in SOL, and the first time you receive a token, your wallet must open a token account, which locks about 0.00204 SOL of rent (refunded if you close the account later).

Fix: keep at least 0.01 to 0.02 SOL in your wallet, even when you trade USDC or other tokens. When swapping "max" SOL, leave a little behind.

"Account is frozen" · can't sell a token

What happened: the token creator still holds the freeze authority and froze your token account. It's a classic honeypot: buying works, selling doesn't. Other traps: Token-2022 tokens with a transfer hook that blocks sells, or a permanent delegate that can take tokens back.

Fix: there is usually nothing you can do after the fact. Prevention takes 5 seconds: run a safety check before buying any new token.

"I received fewer tokens than the quote"

What happened: some Token-2022 tokens charge a transfer tax on every transfer, buy and sell. The quote may not include it, so you receive less, and you lose it again when you sell.

Fix: the safety check shows the exact transfer tax when a token has one.

"Transaction simulation failed"

What happened: your wallet tested the transaction before sending it and saw it would fail. Look at the detailed message underneath: it is usually one of the errors above (slippage, missing SOL, frozen account).

Fix: get a fresh quote and retry. If it keeps failing on one token only, check that token: liquidity may have been pulled.