dinput8.dll is missing or crashes a game: what the file is and how to fix it

Each file below is Microsoft's own dinput8.dll for one Windows release, fetched from Microsoft's own server and checked against Winbindex, the index of the files in Windows images and updates. Pick your Windows version (Settings, System, About shows it) and the build: 64-bit for System32, 32-bit for SysWOW64. The repair steps above are still the better fix, because Windows protects these folders and keeps its copy updated. Use a file here to compare it with a copy you have, or when System File Checker and DISM cannot repair the file.

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The wording tells you which problem you have. These are the texts Windows shows, as written, with the file name filled in.

dinput8.dll is the DirectInput 8 library. Games and programs load it to read keyboards, mice, joysticks, steering wheels and other game controllers, including force feedback. Microsoft's documentation treats DirectInput devices as legacy and presents XInput as the easier interface for Xbox controllers, which is why newer games do not need this file, but Windows keeps it so that older games keep working. What Windows reports for the genuine file:

On 64-bit Windows, System32 holds the 64-bit file and SysWOW64 the 32-bit one; the folder names are historical. When a program starts, Windows looks for dinput8.dll in the program's own folder first, which is exactly what mod loaders rely on: a file with this name next to the game's .exe is loaded instead of the Windows copy. The genuine file describes itself as Microsoft DirectInput (Properties, Details, File description) and is a few hundred kilobytes: in the Windows 11 24H2 and later builds the 64-bit file is 266,240 bytes. A loader usually shows another description, another size, and no Microsoft signature.

Every Windows release has its own build of dinput8.dll, updated together with Windows. Winbindex lists 46 distinct Microsoft builds; the table shows the newest one indexed for each release and the update that delivered it.

Public DLL catalogues have collected 16 copies of dinput8.dll uploaded from PCs, from version 4.8.0.400 to 10.0.15063.608. Many come from older Windows releases. The table lists each with its checksums, so you can tell which one you have.

None of these replaces the file your Windows ships: the newest build indexed for Windows is 10.0.28000.2336, and each release keeps its own. If the check on this page finds your file in this list, it is most likely an older Microsoft build that was copied somewhere by hand. Confirm the Microsoft signature, remove the copy from the game folder, and let Windows use its own.

Copies uploaded by users to a public DLL catalogue, read on 14 October 2026. We list their checksums so you can identify a file; we do not offer them for download and we did not verify each one against Microsoft's signature.