While installing or opening a program or game on a Windows 11/10 PC, if you see an error message saying api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll or api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll is missing, here is how you can fix the problem. You may receive this error when trying to open some Adobe Program Files, SmartFTP software, Skype, Autodesk, Corel Draw, Microsoft Office, XAMPP, and so on. The DLL error can occur during loading or launch.
The entire error message says something like this:
The program can’t start because api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
Or,
The program can’t start because api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.
DLL stands for Dynamic Link Libraries and are external parts of applications that run on Windows or any other operating system. Most applications are not complete in themselves and store code in different files. If there is a need for the code, the related file is loaded into memory and used. If the OS or software is not able to find the concerned DLL file in the application installation folder, or if the DLL file is corrupted, you could receive a DLL file is missing message.
Primary reason: Universal CRT, which is part of the Visual C++ Redistributable has either failed to install properly or the api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll file has gone missing or become corrupted.
Fix api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll or api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll is missing
To fix the api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll or api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll is missing error in Windows 11/10, follow these solutions:
- Repair the installed Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable package
- Re-register the DLL file
- Update for Universal C Runtime
- Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Update
- Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio
To learn more about these solutions, continue reading.
Before getting started with these solutions, you should make sure that your Windows is updated – so check for updates and confirm. Also, run the System File Checker to replace potentially corrupted system files. Reinstalling the program that is throwing up this error may also help.
1] Repair installed Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable package
A corrupted installation or a bad update may necessitate repairing the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable package.
If you have already installed the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable package, but you receive the error, you might need to repair the program. To do this, open the Control Panel and go to the “Programs and Features” section. Find out Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable (x64) [for 64-bit machine] > right-click on it > select Change button > click on the Repair button.
However, if you have Visual C++ 2015-2022 Redistributable package, you need to do the same with it. For that, open the Windows Settings panel and go to Apps > Installed apps. Then, click on the three-dotted icon and select the Modify option.
Next, you can find the same option as before.
Related: The program can’t start because AppVIsvSubsystems32.dll is missing.
2] Re-register the DLL file
If the DLL file is present on your computer, but you still receive this error message, you may need to re-register the DLL file.
If the DLL file is missing, then downloading the missing dll file from the internet and pasting it to a particular place is not the actual solution. You can try that method, but you may not get any positive results from it.
3] Update for Universal C Runtime
Download the Update for Universal C Runtime from Microsoft. Install the Runtime component and restart your computer and see. Just for your information, starting with Windows 10, the Universal CRT is part of the operating system.
4] Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Update
If this does not help, you may need to install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Update from Microsoft here. You need to select the version of Windows ie.64-bit or 32-bit version. Follow the installation process and guide carefully to avoid installation issues or failure.
5] Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio
Like the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable package, some programs use the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2017. Maybe you need to install this one. You can find the package on this page.
You can try these solutions mentioned above to fix this problem and see which one of them helps you – else you can always look at the log files for specifics.
Read: API-ms-win-core-libraryloader-l1-1-1.dll is missing from your computer
How to fix error api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll?
To fix the error API-MS-Win-CRT-heap-l1-1-0.dll in Windows 11/10, you need to repair the Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable package first. However, you also need to install or reinstall the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Update package. As some apps may use Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2017, you should also update or install this package as well.
How to fix system error api-ms-win-crt-runtime?
As this problem mainly occurs due to not having a specific DLL file required for running or opening a game or program, you need to work with Visual C++ Redistributable packages to fix the problem. You can update the Universal C Runtime or CRT package. However, if you haven’t installed it yet, it is suggested to go to support.micorosft.com and install it.
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