The latest iteration of Windows is leaps ahead of the previous one in terms of design as well as the build. Microsoft really pushed the envelope when it came to the interoperability of apps in the operating system by enabling users to install Android apps with just a single click of a button.
However, no operating system can be completely free from little bugs here and there, and Windows 11 seems to be following the bandwagon in that department. Many of the users have been facing the ‘mscoree.dll not found’ on their computer when trying to run a program on their computer.
The issue is annoying as it is an inconvenience. However, thankfully, the resolution for it is pretty easy and straightforward.
That being said, before you jump on to resolving the error using the methods mentioned below in this guide, it definitely will help you to first understand what exactly is the error ‘mscoree.dll not found’.
What is the ‘mscoree.dll’ error?
As the name suggests, the mscoree.dll error presents itself whenever a program is not able to locate and/or access the aforementioned file on your computer.
The file is a part of the .NET framework that is installed on your computer and helps all the programs run as intended. There are multiple .NET frameworks installed on your computer that help run various programs.
Now, in case a file has been corrupted or damaged in a particular framework, it will impact each and every program using that specific framework on your computer, but all the other programs will continue to work as expected.
Though issues like these are very rare, whenever faced, they can be easily fixed by using the methods provided below in the guide.
Method 1: Run a Malware Scan
The first step you should take when facing an error like this is to scan your PC for any malware or virus. Typically Windows manages that automatically, however, running a deep scan on your PC cannot hurt at all.
To run a full scan of your PC, first, head to the Start menu and type Security in the menu to perform a search for it. After that, from the search results, click on the ‘Windows Security’ tile to proceed.
Then, on the ‘Windows Security’ window, click on the ‘Virus & threat protection’ tab present in the left sidebar.
Now, from the right section of the page, click on the ‘Scan options’ button situated under the ‘Current threats’ section.
Then, on the next page, click on the radio button preceding the ‘Microsft Defender Antivirus’ scan and then click on the ‘Scan now’ button present at the bottom of the page to proceed.
Your PC might shut down and restart once to complete the scan and detect any malware and/or virus on your system.
Method 2: Install or Update Missing Drivers on your System
A missing or outdated driver could also be one of the reasons that you have been experiencing this issue on your system. Since updating and/or installing a drive on your system is a very straightforward process, it is definitely worth a try. Moreover, you can update the driver either from the Settings app or from the Device Manager.
To install or update the driver from the Settings app, first, head to the Start menu and click on the ‘Settings’ icon tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Alternatively, you can press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to open the app.
Next, on the Settings window, click on the ‘Windows Update’ tab present on the left sidebar to proceed.
Then, from the right section of the window, click on the ‘Advanced options’ tile present under the ‘More options’ section to continue.
Then, on the next screen, scroll down and click on the ‘Optional updates’ tile present under the ‘Additional options’ section to proceed.
After that, locate and click on the ‘Driver updates’ tile to expand it. Then from the list of available drivers, locate the available driver and click on the checkbox preceding the individual item. Next, click on the ‘Download & install’ button present at the bottom of the section to commence the installation of the driver.
Install or Update Missing Driver Using the Device Manager
The process to update any driver from the Device manager is pretty straightforward. Moreover, if you find multiple drivers are missing or need updates on your system, using the Device Manager would prove more convenient.
First, head to the Start Menu and type Device Manager in the menu to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Device Manager’ tile to open the app.
Note: Just for showcasing purposes, we are updating the ‘Bluetooth’ drivers. You can follow the same process for any other drivers listed in the Device Manager.
After that, from the ‘Device Manager’ window, locate and click on the downward arrow preceding the ‘Bluetooth’ category. Then, from the expanded options, locate the ‘Intel Wireless Bluetooth’ driver and right-click on it to reveal the context menu. Next, click on the ‘Properties’ option to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.
From the separately opened window, you can view the current status of the driver for the hardware present on your PC. In case no driver is detected, the window will state so. Then, click on the ‘Update driver’ button present right beneath the ‘Device status’ area.
In case you are here to update the already installed driver, click on the ‘Driver’ tab present in the top section of the window. Then, click on the ‘Update driver’ button present in the window to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.
After that, from the separately opened window, click on the ‘Search automatically for drivers’ option to let the Windows search for the latest driver available on the Microsoft servers.
If you already have a driver update package, click on the ‘Browse my computer for drivers’ option to proceed. This will open a File Explorer window on your screen that you can use to navigate and select the driver package to update.
Once the update/ install has been performed successfully, you might need to restart your PC to apply the changes. Hence, restart the PC from the Start Menu.
Method 3: Reinstall the Program
In case you are only facing this issue with a single program instead of a bunch of them, there is a high probability that a simple uninstall and reinstall of the said program will fix the issue for you.
Since this fix requires you to uninstall and then reinstall the program back on your computer, for your convenience, we are going to showcase both the procedures.
Note: Before you uninstall the program from your computer, make sure you have the installer package along with the product key, if applicable in your case.
Uninstall the Program Using the Settings App
In the previous iterations of Windows, you had to go to Control Panel to uninstall any program from your computer. However, that is not the case with Windows 11 as you can uninstall any app you desire right from the Settings app.
To do so, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to proceed. Otherwise, type settings in the menu to perform a search for it.
Now, on the Settings app, click on the ‘Apps’ tab present in the left-sidebar present in the Settings window to continue.
Next, from the right section of the window, locate and click on the ‘Installed apps’ tile from the list to continue.
Then, you can either search for an app using the ‘Search bar’ present right underneath the ‘App list’ label. Otherwise, you can also scroll down to locate the app manually from the alphabetically ordered list.
Once you have located the app you wish to uninstall, click on the kebab menu icon (three vertical dots) present on the far right edge of each app tile and choose the ‘Uninstall’ option. This will bring up an overlay prompt on your screen.
Finally, from the prompt, click on the ‘Uninstall’ button to remove the app from your machine.
Reinstall the Program on your Computer
Though it is not possible to showcase each and every program’s installation, the below-mentioned is general guidance to install a program on your device.
First, head to the directory containing the .EXE installer package of your program and double-click on it to run it.
Now, from the installer window, click on the ‘Next’ button to proceed.
After that, most of the programs allow you to customize your install directory. To change the default install directory (that is the ‘Program Files’ folder), click on the ‘Browse’ button. This will open a File Explorer window on your screen. Locate and select the directory you wish to install the program in. Once selected, click on the ‘Next’ button present in the window to proceed to the next step.
After that, you might need to accept the EULA (End User License Agreement). Locate and click on the checkbox preceding the ‘I accept the Terms & Conditions’, and then click on the ‘Install’ button to install the program on your computer.
Some programs might ask you to restart your system after the installation to fully apply the changes to your PC. Hence, restart your computer if the installed program asks you to. That’s it the program has been reinstalled on your computer. It should start working properly now.
Method 4: Re-enable .NET Framework
Most probably, your PC will already have some versions of the framework installed. However, re-enabling the framework can resolve the issue pretty easily.
To reenable the .NET framework, first, head to the Start Menu and type Windows Features in the menu to perform a search for it. After that, from the search results, click on the ‘Turn Windows Features On or Off’ tile to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.
After that, from the separately opened window, locate the ‘.NET Framework 3.5’ option and click on the ‘+’ button preceding the checkbox to expand the section further.
Now, click on each checkbox preceding the individual option listed in the expanded section to select the options. After that, click on the checkbox preceding the ‘.NET Framework 4.8 Advanced Services’ option to select it. Then, click on the ‘+’ button preceding the checkbox to expand the section.
Then, click on each of the checkboxes preceding every individual option to select them. After that, click on the ‘OK’ button present at the bottom right corner of the window to confirm the selection and install the selected features on your computer.
Once the features have been installed on your PC, the system might ask you to restart the PC. Click on the ‘Restart Now’ button to restart your computer. Once restarted, try launching an app that you were facing an error with and it should be resolved by now.
In case you are not able to enable the framework components using the GUI method, you can also use the Command Prompt to enable them.
Enable .NET Framework 3.5 Using the Command Prompt
Enabling the framework using the Command Prompt is very simple. It only requires you to execute a couple of commands and you will be done with it before you know it.
First, head to the Start Menu and type Terminal to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, right-click on the Terminal tile and click the ‘Run as administrator’ option to proceed.
Now, a UAC (User Account Control) window will appear on your screen. If you are not logged in with an admin account, enter the credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the ‘Yes’ button to proceed.
Now, on the Terminal window, click on the ‘chevron’ (downward arrow) icon present on the top bar and click to select the ‘Command Prompt’ option to continue. Alternatively, you can also press the Ctrl+Shift+2 keys together to open it. This will open the Command Prompt in a separate tab on the window.
Then, on the Command Prompt tab, type the below-mentioned command and hit Enter on your keyboard to execute it.
dism /online/ enable-feature /featurename:netfx3 /all
After that, to enable WCF on your system, type the below-mentioned command and hit Enter on your keyboard to execute it.
dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:WCF-HTTP-Activation
Next, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned command and hit Enter to execute it.
dism /online/ enable-feature/ featurename:WCF-nonHTTP-Activation
Once all the commands have been successfully executed, restart your computer from the Start Menu. After the restart, try launching the app with which you were facing the issue to check if it persists.
Method 5: Roll Back to a System Restore Point
If you have a reason to believe that a recent software upgrade or a third-party software installation might be the culprit behind the issue, you can also roll back to a system restore.
Press the Windows+R shortcut on your keyboard to bring up the ‘Run Command’ utility. Then, type Control and hit Enter on your keyboard. This will open the Control Panel on your machine.
After that, locate and click on the ‘Recovery’ tile from the grid of options to continue.
Next, click on the ‘Open System Restore’ option from the list of options on your screen. This will open a separate ‘System Restore’ window on your screen.
From the separately opened window, click on the ‘Next’ button located at the bottom right section to proceed.
You will then see the list of System Restore points you can roll back to. Click to select from the list and then click on the ‘Next’ button to proceed.
You will now see the drives that will roll back using the chosen restore point from the ‘Drives’ section. If you also wish to see the files and programs that will be affected, click the ‘Scan for affected programs’ option. This will open a separate window.
On the new screen, you can view the programs that will be deleted and the ones that will be restored (in our case there were no programs that were going to be affected by the restore, hence the list in the screenshot below is empty). Then, click on the ‘Close’ button to close the window.
Finally, click the ‘Finish’ button to start the System Restore process on your Windows 11 PC.
If the error was generated by a recent update or any third-party software installation, you no longer should face the issue.
Method 6: Use a Registry Cleaner
Although it’s a pretty drastic step, it’s one of the last options available before the completely nuclear solution that is the next step. If nothing else until now has worked, you can try using a registry cleaner tool to repair the mscoree.dll issue in the registry.
Windows registry is database file in Windows that keeps a list of references for the DLL files on your system. Whenever Windows needs to look for a DLL file, such as the mscoree.dll file, this is the database it refers to. But sometimes the registry file can get damaged or corrupted, which makes it impossible for Windows to read the required file; hence, causing all the ruckus.
There are plenty of free tools available out there, such as CCleaner, Wise Registry Cleaner, etc., that you can easily use to remove any invalid mscoree.dll registry entries in the file that might be causing the issue.
Method 7: Perform a Clean Install of Windows
If none of the above-mentioned solutions seem to work for your, the only way to resolve the error is to factory reset your PC. However, do note, that this will remove all files, folders, and settings from your PC and bring it back to a factory state as the name suggests.
First, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to launch the Settings app.
Now, click on the ‘System’ tab present on the left panel of the ‘Settings’ window.
After that, scroll down and locate the ‘Recovery’ option, Click on it to enter the ‘Recovery’ settings.
Now, on the ‘Recovery Setting’ screen, click on the ‘Reset PC’ button to continue.
After clicking on the ‘Reset PC’ button, a separate window will open. Now, on the separately opened window, two options would be available to you:
- Keep my files: As the name suggests, use this option if you want to keep your personal files intact while all the system apps get uninstalled and system settings are rolled back to a fresh state.
- Remove everything: Again, no surprise here as well. This option will remove all photos, programs, and apps and will roll back the operating system to a completely fresh state as if it was brand new. Due to the nature of the issue, choosing this option is recommended.
So for the purpose of this guide, we are going with the ‘Remove everything’ option here.
After choosing either of the options, on the next window, you will need to choose between a ‘Cloud download’ or a ‘Local reinstall’ option. ‘Cloud download’ is believed to be more reliable and stable relative to ‘Local reinstall’ as there might be the possibility of files being corrupted or damaged.
However, as the name suggests, Cloud download will require a stable internet connection through which Windows will consume at least 4 GB of data.
Now, click on the option you would like to select for reinstalling the Windows on your machine. We are choosing the ‘Cloud download’ option here.
Note: Neither of the reinstalling options would require you to plug in any external installation media.
Next, you will be notified of the current settings for resetting the PC. If you wish to change any settings, click on the ‘Change settings’ option.
On the ‘Choose settings’ window, you will have three options to alter the settings. Let’s get into it for the sake of better performance of your machine:
- Clean data?: This option is mostly used when you want to give away your PC and don’t want anybody to be able to recover your personal files. If that’s the case. toggle the switch to the ‘Yes’ position.
- Delete files from all drives?: As the name suggests, this option would enable you to choose if you would like to remove the data from only your Windows installed drive or wipe all the drives clean. If you wish to delete files from all drives, toggle the switch to the ‘Yes’ position. Also, ‘Clean data’ will apply to all the drives if enabled.
- Download Windows?: This option would enable you to switch from ‘Cloud download’ to ‘Local reinstall’ should you feel the need to change the reinstallation process before commencing.
Once you have toggled the additional settings as per your preference, click on the ‘Confirm’ button to proceed further. Here we have enabled the ‘Clean data? option.
Now, click on the ‘Next’ button from the bottom section of the window.
It might take a while for Windows to load the next screen. Sit tight while the process runs in the background.
Next, Windows will list down all the impacts of resetting your PC. Read them and click on the ‘Reset’ button to start the resetting process on your machine.
After clicking the ‘Reset’ button, your computer might restart several times to complete the process, which is entirely normal behavior. Resetting might take a few hours depending on your machine and the settings that are chosen by you for the process.
That’s it, people! The above-mentioned fixes will help you resolve the ‘mscoree.dll not found’ issue on your PC and get things working like clockwork again.
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