In this article, we will see how to fix the winmm.dll Missing or Not found error in Windows 11/10. DLL (dynamic link library) files are essential to the working of your computer system. They are executable and hold vital code and data used by multiple applications. A common issue that Windows OS users experience is when the system fails to load software or abruptly ends a program or installation process due to a missing DLL file.
The winmm.dll is a module associated with the Windows Multimedia API, which contains low-level audio and joystick functions. It is located in the System32 or the SysWOW64 folder. This error pops up when you attempt to run programs on your computer. The complete error message says:
This application has failed to start because winmm.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem
A problem with this error message is that it shows up on many applications. So, re-installing every application is not feasible. With the winmm.dll missing, the associated programs will either not launch or not run optimally. Read this guide to the end to learn how to fix this issue.
Fix winmm.dll not found in Windows 11/10
Use the following suggestions if the winmm.dll is missing in your Windows 11/10 computer or you encounter the winmm.dll not found error on your system.
- Restore the deleted winmm.dll file.
- Run a System File Scan.
- Reinstall the affected program.
- Check the Quarantine location in your antivirus.
- Restore your system to an earlier date
- Download the winmm.dll file from Microsoft
- Copy the file from another computer.
1] Restore the deleted winmm.dll file
There is a rare chance that you might have mistakenly deleted the winmm.dll file off your computer. If the deletion didn’t happen up to a month ago, it should still be in the Recycle Bin. To restore the file, open the Recycle Bin and search for “winmm.dll.” If it is there, right-click on the deleted file and hit Restore. This brings the file back to its original directory.
2] Run System File Checker
This is the best way to replace missing system DLL files.
Click on the Start button and enter cmd.
Right-click on Command Prompt and click on Run as administrator.
Enter the following command, and hit ENTER to run the System File Checker:
sfc /scannow
Restart your PC and see.
If it does not help, run DISM to repair a potentially corrupted system image.
In a Command Prompt window, type the following command and press ENTER to run it:
DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
On completion of the scan, restart your computer and see.
3] Reinstall the affected program
If the Winmm.dll file problem only appears when you run a specific application, then fixing it is easier than you might’ve thought. The error message suggests that “reinstalling the application may fix the problem.”
First, uninstall the application and restart your machine. Finally, download and reinstall the program. If you’re not sure how to do this, follow the steps below.
- Press the Windows key + R combination to open the Run dialog box.
- In Run, enter appwiz.cpl and click the OK button.
- Find the application from the list in the Control Panel applet and right-click on it.
- Select Uninstall from the context menu and hit Yes.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall the application.
- Restart your computer.
- Download and install the application again.
4] Check the Quarantine location in your antivirus
Antivirus software is good, as it protects our computers from various threats. However, sometimes, antivirus software blocks genuine programs and deletes the genuine files. Or it moves the genuine files to quarantine. Such types of flags are false positive flags that can be avoided.
This can be the case with you. Your antivirus software might have quarantined the winmm.dll file. You can check this in the quarantine location of your antivirus. Open your antivirus software and check if the winmm.dll file exists at the quarantine location. Different antivirus software have different user interfaces. Therefore, depending on your antivirus software, you need to refer to the support website of your antivirus to know how to access or view the quarantined files.
If the winmm.dll file is quarantined by your antivirus, restore it. However, your antivirus can again move the file to the quarantine location. Therefore, to avoid this issue again, whitelist the winmm.dll file in your antivirus. Again, you need to refer to your antivirus website to know the exact process to whitelist files and programs.
If you are using free antivirus software, you can either whitelist the winmm.dll file or switch to another free antivirus.
5] Restore your system to an earlier date
A system restore rolls your machine back to its state at an earlier date when you created a restore point. If you have a restore point that precedes the DLL error message, then restoring to that time will resolve the problem. This guide will teach you how to run a system restore and get rid of the problem.
6] Download the winmm.dll file from Microsoft
You can download Windows 11/10 exe, dll, etc, OS files from Microsoft using the Winbindex services. See if your file is available there.
7] Copy the file from another computer
If you have a healthy system on which your Windows Media Player and other programs all run smoothly without errors, you can get the winmm.dll file from the computer. For this technique, start by inserting a removable storage drive (flash drive, hard drive, etc.) into the health PC.
Next, navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 (or SysWOW64) directory of the healthy PC. Find the winmm.dll file in this folder and copy it to the storage drive. Ensure never to hit cut. Paste it in the USB drive and connect the USB drive to the PC you want to repair.
Now, copy or cut the winmm.dll file from the external drive and paste it in C:\Windows\System32.
The final step is to re-register the dll file.
That’s it. I hope this helps.
How do I resolve a DLL problem?
DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library. It is a file in Windows computers that is used by many programs. One DLL file can be shared with multiple programs. Therefore, deleting a DLL file can cause malfunction of many programs. When Windows does not locate the DLL file or if a DLL file is corrupted, Windows throws the DLL error. To fix this, you can do some things, like repairing the system image files, reinstalling the affected program, etc. You can also copy the missing DLL file from another healthy computer to your computer.
How to install DLL files?
Many third-party websites offer DLL files to download, but we do not recommend you download the missing DLL files from the third-party websites. Instead of doing this, you can try some things to install the missing DLL file, like repairing your system image files. Reinstalling the affected program can also help install missing DLL files. If this does not work, you can perform a System Restore.
Read next: How to fix RunDll error in Windows 11?
