When you run a program on a computer running Windows 8.1 or earlier, you may see an error denoting that the module api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll or api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll is missing. Here’s the full error message verbatim:
For example, these errors may occur when playing online games or while running programs that were compiled using Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 & Windows 10 SDK — e.g., Office Word, Excel, Access, Skype, QGIS, Apple iTunes, or Adobe products.
These DLL missing errors usually indicate that the VC++ runtime libraries are missing. A runtime library is a collection of files (usually .dll files) used by some programs at run-time to provide one or more native program functions or services.
Uninstalling and reinstalling the respective program can help in cases where the software vendor has packaged the runtime library within the installer.
Many users have attempted to download and install the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015. However, this may not resolve the issue. This article tells you how to fix the above errors easily using an update released by Microsoft.
Resolution
The api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll or api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll missing errors mostly occur on Windows 8.1 and earlier systems. Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 creates a dependency on the Universal CRT when applications are built by using the Windows 10 Software Development Kit (SDK).
To resolve the problem, you’ll need to install the Universal C Runtime (CRT) update on earlier Windows operating systems to enable these applications to run correctly.
The Windows 10 Universal CRT is a Windows operating system component that enables CRT functionality on the Windows operating system. This update allows Windows desktop applications that depend on the Windows 10 Universal CRT release to run on earlier Windows operating systems.
- Download Update for Universal C Runtime in Windows (for Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista)
Here’s the list of modules added or updated by the Universal C Runtime update:
Api-ms-win-crt-conio-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-convert-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-environment-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-filesystem-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-locale-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-math-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-multibyte-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-private-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-process-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-stdio-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-string-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-time-l1-1-0.dll Api-ms-win-crt-utility-l1-1-0.dll Ucrtbase.dll
For more information, expand the File information section in the above Microsoft article to view the list of file names included in the package for each Operating System.
Additional Note
Windows 10 includes the api-ms-win-crt-heap-l1-1-0.dll
file by default. Here’s the module information from a Windows 10 v2004 computer:
c:\windows\syswow64\downlevel\api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll: Verified: Signed Signing date: 6:13 AM 12/7/2019 Publisher: Microsoft Windows Company: Microsoft Corporation Description: ApiSet Stub DLL Product: Microsoft« Windows« Operating System Prod version: 10.0.19041.1 File version: 10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) MachineType: 32-bit c:\windows\system32\downlevel\api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll: Verified: Signed Signing date: 6:27 AM 12/7/2019 Publisher: Microsoft Windows Company: Microsoft Corporation Description: ApiSet Stub DLL Product: Microsoft« Windows« Operating System Prod version: 10.0.19041.1 File version: 10.0.19041.1 (WinBuild.160101.0800) MachineType: 64-bit
Hope that helps!
(Last reviewed on 24-June-2022)
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