What is Visual C++ Redistributable

What is Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable?

Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (MSVCR) is a package offered by Microsoft for programs developed using Visual Studio. It contains C and C++ runtime libraries. It is basically plug-and-play on Windows platform, meaning, download the required Visual C++ version number requested by the program and install it to start working. If the program built uses C or C++ libraries, then the corresponding Visual C++ package is required to run the program. The architecture of Visual C++ must match the application's target architecture.

What is Visual C++ Redistributable: Figure 1

Which Visual C++ Redistributable is needed?

There are multiple versions of Visual C++ available, and you can download and install specific versions according to your computer architecture. The packages are available for both 32-bit and 64-bit architecture. If you have a x64 (64-bit) operating system (OS), then you can install both x64 and x86 (32-bit) on your Windows platform. However, for x86 operating systems, you can only download and install x86 versions. Here is a list of all available versions for both x86 and x64 OS: Latest Supported MSVCR for Visual Studio.

Visual C++ Redistributable for Iron Products

IronPDF

What is IronPDF, and How Does it Relate to Visual C++?

IronPDF is a .NET Library for PDF creation and manipulation. Applications can be developed using IronPDF in Visual Studio. IronPDF supports the latest .NET versions and goes back to standard 2.0 and standard core versions of the .NET Framework. If you are building apps for older operating systems, then a Visual C++ Redistributable package is a must.

IronPDF requires a Visual C++ Redistributable package on the target Windows platform for most of its operations. Tasks related to Chrome dependencies, or if you are not able to initialize IronPDF, IronInterop or Pdfium objects all require Microsoft visual c++ redistributable package on the target machine. Another common exception raised is PlatformNotSupportedException. This means the registry is not supported on this particular platform. This rarely-seen issue can also be solved by installing the required Visual C++ redistributable package.

Applications developed using Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 versions, the latest version of Visual C++ Redistributable package is required to run it on the target machine. It is available for both x86 and x64 architecture machines.

IronPDF uses Chromium Engine to convert HTML to PDF which is fast, accurate, and reliable.

IronOCR

What is IronOCR, and How Does It Relate to Visual C++?

IronOCR is an Optical Character Recognition library used to extract text from images and PDFs. IronOCR also uses IronPDF capabilities to work with PDF documents. This means Visual C++ Redistributable packages are often required with IronOCR applications.

IronOCR applications are also built using Visual Studio and a relevant Visual C++ package is required. Versions of Visual Studio versions before 2015 require a separate Visual C++ redistributable runtime package. For Visual Studio 2015 and above, the latest version MICROSOFT VISUAL C++ 2015 - 2022 RUNTIME is required to be installed.

For more troubleshooting guides on Visual C++ redistributable for IronOCR visit this link.

Fixing Errors using Visual C++ Redistributable Packages

The programs built-in Visual Studio using IronPDF or IronOCR, require a Visual C++ redistributable package. It must be installed on the target machine where the application needs to be deployed.

Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, AND 2022

The latest version of Visual C++ redistributable is built with the latest C++ features along with performance improvements, security, and reliability. For applications created in Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022, the following Visual C++ 2015-2022 runtimes need to be installed according to the machine architecture:

Visual Studio 2013 (VC++ 12.0)

For applications built in Visual Studio 2013, the following Visual Studio C++ redistributable package needs to be installed:

To download updates and other versions please visit: Update for Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable Package

Visual Studio 2012 (VC++ 11.0) UPDATE 4

For apps built in Visual Studio 2012, the following Visual Studio C++ redistributable package needs to be installed:

To download updates and other versions please visit: Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2012 Update 4

Older Visual Studio Versions

The following versions are no longer supported:

  • Visual Studio 2010 (VC++ 10.0) SP1
  • Visual Studio 2008 (VC++ 9.0) SP1
  • Visual Studio 2005 (VC++ 8.0) SP1

Adding Visual C++ Redistributable Package with IronPDF or IronOCR Application Installer for Target Machines

As a developer, you can add the required Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package with the application installer. This helps the user to run your program without any additional dependency to be downloaded. The Visual C++ redistributable file can be packed with the app installer such as MSI if required. The list of Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable for Visual Studio is mentioned above in detail. You can choose the correct version to pack with your application installer.

How to manually install the Latest Version of Visual C++ Redistributable?

To install Visual C++ Redistributable, we just need to download the correct version number and install using the setup file. The following steps will help you download and install the latest version of Visual C++ 2015-2022 runtime for applications built in Visual Studio 2022 using IronPDF or IronOCR:

  1. Visit the Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable website to download the latest version. Here is the link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170.

    What is Visual C++ Redistributable: Figure 2

  2. Once the file is downloaded, move to the downloaded file location and double-click to open the file and install.
  3. The setup will appear. Tick the agreement option and click install to install the Visual C++ 2015-2022 version on your computer.

    What is Visual C++ Redistributable: Figure 3

  4. The installation will begin, and it will take a few seconds to install.

    What is Visual C++ Redistributable: Figure 4

  5. Once the installation is completed, you need to restart the PC to use Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for your applications. Click restart, and you are ready to use the applications.

    What is Visual C++ Redistributable: Figure 5

  6. To verify the installation, open the control panel to check if Visual C++ redistributable 2015-2022 is added in programs. It will also show the existing current versions of Visual C++ redistributable are already installed.

    What is Visual C++ Redistributable: Figure 6

Summary

In this article, we learned what is Visual C++ Redistributable package and how it is linked to different Iron products. These are Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL) which are required at runtime for the proper working of an application. If you only intend to run applications built with Visual Studio, you can choose the appropriate version of Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable runtime to do so.

Now you can get a free trial of each Iron product. Here is the link to try IronPDF and IronOCR for free.