As of recent years, Microsoft has released Visual C++ 2022 Redistributable. While newer, it is backwards compatible with 2019 apps. However, many older games and enterprise apps specifically check for the 2019 version string. If you uninstall 2019 and rely only on 2022, some installers might still prompt you to install the older version.
Always download from official Microsoft sources to avoid malware.
Even after installation, things can go wrong. Here are the most frequent issues and their solutions.
This is a common Windows Update error. It usually occurs if your Windows OS is missing critical updates. The fix:
Starting with Visual Studio 2015, Microsoft made a promise to developers: Binary compatibility. This means that runtime libraries from Visual Studio 2015, 2017, and 2019 are all versioned at 14.x (e.g., version 14.0, 14.10, 14.20, 14.29).
In practice, this means:
However, practical wisdom dictates you install all three. Why? Because even though they are binary compatible, some installers check for their exact major.minor version. To avoid the infamous “Side-by-side configuration is incorrect” error, install the specific redistributable the program requests.
Some third-party tools like TechPowerUp Visual C++ Redistributable Runtimes All-in-One are convenient but unnecessary. Stick to Microsoft's official installers for stability.