Using esp8266 error: Failed to open COM3

I’m getting this error
error: Failed to open COM3
error: espcomm_open failed
error: espcomm_upload_mem failed
when I try to upload the firmfare
but it complied successfully
I’m using platformio in vscode

Your esp is probably not on com3.

The file platformio.ini specifies upload_port = com3 in the [env:iotawatt] section. You need to change it to the port your esp is on, or remove it to let it find your esp.

I have several connected at any given time, so I must be explicit.