Which Visual C++ Redistributable do I need?
Every version installs side by side, and the newest does not replace the older ones. That single fact explains almost every case of someone installing the current package and still getting the same error.
Read the number in the file name
The digits tell you which package it belongs to. A file ending in 140 comes from the 2015-2022 runtime, 120 from 2013, 110 from 2012 and 100 from 2010. Once you know the number, you know exactly what to install.
Visual C++ 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2022
These four share a single runtime, so the current package covers all of them. This is the one almost everybody needs.
Visual C++ 2013
A separate package. The 2015-2022 runtime does not include it and never will.
Visual C++ 2012
Separate again. Needed by software from roughly 2012 to 2014.
We do not index this package, so we have no verified download to offer. Get it from Microsoft directly rather than from any site distributing the individual files.
Visual C++ 2010
Separate. Needed by software from around 2010 to 2013.
We do not index this package, so we have no verified download to offer. Get it from Microsoft directly rather than from any site distributing the individual files.
Two things worth knowing
- Install both architectures. On 64-bit Windows plenty of applications are still 32-bit and need the x86 runtime specifically. Having both installed is normal and they do not conflict.
- Already installed but still failing? Repair it from Settings, Apps rather than reinstalling over the top. And check whether the missing file ends in _1, which appeared in later builds and means your 2015-2022 package is simply out of date.