opencl.dll is missing or OpenCL fails: what the file is and how to fix it

Each file below is Microsoft's own opencl.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: the file contains no OpenCL support for your graphics card, Windows protects these folders and keeps its copy updated, and your graphics driver may install a newer opencl.dll of its own. 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. The first four are the texts Windows shows, with the file name filled in; the others are the kind of message programs, System File Checker and the Windows event log show when OpenCL itself is the problem.

opencl.dll is the OpenCL Client DLL. OpenCL is an open interface from the Khronos Group for running calculations on graphics chips and other processors, used by video and photo editors, 3D renderers, scientific software and benchmarks. A program that uses OpenCL loads opencl.dll, which reads from the registry which OpenCL drivers are installed, loads them and passes every call to the one the program chooses. The drivers come with the graphics driver package of each chip maker. Without such a driver, opencl.dll has nothing to offer, and the program sees no OpenCL device. 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. Copies inside Windows' own driver packages under System32\DriverStore\FileRepository are normal too. When a program starts, Windows looks for opencl.dll in the program's own folder first, so a file with this name next to the .exe is loaded instead of the Windows copy. The genuine file describes itself as OpenCL Client DLL (Properties, Details, File description) and is small: in Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 the 64-bit file is 98,304 bytes and the 32-bit file 66,560 bytes, in Windows 10 22H2 they are 28,672 and 23,552 bytes. A copy installed by a graphics driver has another version number and size.

Every Windows release has its own build of opencl.dll, updated together with Windows: version 1.2.11.0 in Windows 10, 3.0.1.0 and 3.0.6.0 in Windows 11. Winbindex lists 53 distinct Microsoft builds; the table shows the newest one indexed for each release and the update that delivered it. Which OpenCL version your programs get does not depend on this build: it comes from the graphics driver.

Public DLL catalogues have collected 12 copies of opencl.dll uploaded from PCs, from version 1.0.0.0 to 24.20.11021.1000. Most were installed by graphics drivers rather than by Windows, which is why their version numbers look so different. The table lists each with its checksums, so you can tell which one you have.

None of these replaces the file your Windows ships, and none adds OpenCL support: the newest build indexed for Windows is 3.0.6.0, and each release keeps its own. If the check on this page finds your file in this list, it is most likely a driver's copy or an older build that was copied somewhere by hand. Remove a copy from the program folder, reinstall the graphics driver if OpenCL fails, and let Windows and the driver keep their own.

Copies uploaded by users to a public DLL catalogue, read on 18 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 a digital signature.