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

Each file below is Microsoft's own version.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.

version.dll holds the Windows version information functions, such as GetFileVersionInfo, GetFileVersionInfoSize and VerQueryValue. Installers use them to decide whether a file on the PC is older or newer than the one they carry, and programs use them to show their own version or to check the version of another file. It is a small library that many programs load at start, which is also why tools and malware like to use its name. 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. version.dll is not on the short list of libraries that Windows always takes from System32, so when a program starts, Windows looks for it in the program's own folder first. That is exactly what tools rely on: a file with this name next to the .exe is loaded instead of the Windows copy. The genuine 64-bit file is small: 55,192 bytes in Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, 32,584 bytes in Windows 10 22H2. A tool's copy usually shows another description, another size, and no Microsoft signature.

Every Windows release has its own build of version.dll, updated together with Windows. Winbindex lists 341 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 version.dll uploaded from PCs, from version 5.1.2600.2180 to 10.0.18362.1. 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 10.0.28000.1251, 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 program folder, and let Windows use its own.

Copies uploaded by users to a public DLL catalogue. 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.