How do I install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package runtime?

Windows software installation fails with message that Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package or VC++ DLLs are missing? Here’s how to fix the problem quickly!

On a PC that is brand new or has only a few applications installed, when installing a new program, you may receive an error message that “Microsoft Visual C++ is missing. Redistributable Package” or the “Microsoft C++ Runtime Libraries”, or that the Dynamic Link Library (DLL) MSVCPxxx.dll or MSVCRxxx.dll could not be found. You’ll need to add a small add-on to Windows before re-installing or running your application.

The reason ? Applications for Windows written with Microsoft’s Visual C++ computer language require the presence of a special library of functions on your computer. Without this runtime, they won’t work. Some applications add it directly with their installation procedure, but not all. We’ll walk you through how to add a Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package yourself very easily, whether you’re using Windows 11, Windows 10, or even an older version (Windows 7, 8.1).

Below, for example, Oracle’s VirtualBox software installer refuses to proceed because it does not detect the Microsoft Visual C++ 2019 Redistributable Package. You must quit the installation of this software without taking into account the error messages, download and install the Microsoft 2015-2022 runtime, then restart the installation of VirtualBox.

Which version of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package should I install?

You must first consult Windows Settings to find out if you are using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of the operating system (for more information on the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, see this sheet convenient). Then you will download a package, depending on what the new application requires, which can also be 32-bit and 64-bit. If in doubt, it is possible to load several runtimes. The files are “light” so quick to download and install, they take up almost no space on your hard drive (a few MB for the most recent), and several can coexist on the same computer.

Windows 32 bits or 64 bits, how to know?

To find out which version of Windows you are using, 32-bit or 64-bit, go to the Settings > System > System Informationthrough the menu To start up.

• To access this information screen, you can also type the keyboard shortcut hit Windows+i (then choose the section System) or bring up any folder window and, in the left column, right-click This computer. In the context menu, click Properties.

  

• Either way, you’re in the System Informationmemorize it System type corresponding to your computer: a 64-bit architecture x64 on our example, but for you it may be a 32-bit version, called x86. You can close this window.

  

Choose the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package runtime to install

• Click on this link to access the download page for the latest Visual C++ Redistributables on the Microsoft site.
• If this link is no longer valid, in Google or Bing, search for the terms visual studio redistributable c++ and click on the link corresponding to the site microsoft.comit should appear first.

  

• On the Microsoft site, the runtimes are classified by year, the most recent versions first. If the message prompting you to install the runtime does not state a year or is not very explicit, see if the problem resolves itself after installing the latest version of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package. That is, as of this writing, “Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022“, sometimes shortened to “Visual Studio 2015-2022“.

  

• On a 32-bit Windows: you must install a version x86 (32 bit) package.
• On a 64-bit Windows: you can absolutely install both the 64-bit version x64 of the runtime and the 32-bit version x86 of the runtime. 64-bit Windows accepts both 32-bit and 64-bit applications (but 32-bit Windows only accepts 32-bit apps). So if the requesting application is 32-bit, it is the x86 runtime that you must install, even on a Windows x64.

  

• You risk nothing by installing several “vintages” of the runtimes, for example the one for Visual Studio 2015-2022, but also those for programs written more than 10 years ago with Visual Studio 2013, Visual Studio 2012, etc. And, again, if necessary, for each vintage of the runtime, in 32-bit and/or 64-bit versions on a 64-bit Windows.
• If you received a message like “MSVCPxxx.dll file not found”, here is, according to the xxx value, the version of the runtime to install:

Our previous tips have ensured that you download the correct runtime. The actual installation takes no more than a few seconds.

• In your browser or in the folder Downloads of the’File Explorer of Windows, double-click on the downloaded file to launch it and check the box I accept the license terms and conditions before pressing the button Install.

  

• You will have to confirm the installation of this runtime, then restart the computer before restarting the installation of the application which requested the Visual C++ runtime.

  

• Warning: if an application that installs tells you that it may overwrite a more recent version of a runtime already present on your computer (for example the installer of the Visual Studio 2015-2022 x64 14.34.31931 asks you to confirm overwriting the Visual Studio 2015-2022 x64 14.34 version.31938whose version number is higher, therefore more recent), refuse the installation of the oldest: the most recent version of the DLL library brings you better reliability and more security.
• Note that in Windows, packages uninstall like any application in Settings > Apps > Installed Apps.

  

• A runtime may refuse to install if your Windows is not up to date (Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates).
• If a runtime refuses to install, one solution is to note the names of all the runtimes already present in the Installed appsto uninstall them all then to reinstall them (in x86-32 bit versions and, on a 64 bit Windows, in x86/x64 versions) starting with the oldest.
• In response to a message such as “The file MSVCRxxx.DLL is missing”, some Internet users advise you to do a Google search on this file name, download it from a specialized site (not Microsoft official) and drag it into the C:WindowsSystem32 folder or in the application installation folder. This method, although possible, is less secure because it may be an obsolete or corrupted file, or even malicious.