Method 1: Solving the DLL Error by Copying the Php_mysqli.dll File to the Windows System Folder 

1. The file you will download is a compressed file with the ".zip" extension. You cannot directly install the ".zip" file. Because of this, first, double-click this file and open the file. You will see the file named "Php_mysqli.dll" in the window that opens. Drag this file to the desktop with the left mouse button. This is the file you need.

   

2. Copy the "Php_mysqli.dll" file you extracted and paste it into the "C:\Windows\System32" folder.

   

3. If your operating system has a 64 Bit architecture, copy the "Php_mysqli.dll" file and paste it also into the "C:\Windows\sysWOW64" folder.

   NOTE! On 64 Bit systems, the dll file must be in both the "sysWOW64" folder as well as the "System32" folder. In other words, you must copy the "Php_mysqli.dll" file into both folders.

   

4. In order to run the Command Line as an administrator, complete the following steps.

   NOTE! In this explanation, we ran the Command Line on Windows 10. If you are using one of the Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, you can use the same methods to run the Command Line as an administrator. Even though the pictures are taken from Windows 10, the processes are similar.

   1. First, open the Start Menu and before clicking anywhere, type "cmd" but do not press Enter.
   2. When you see the "Command Line" option among the search results, hit the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER" keys on your keyboard.
   3. A window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run this process?". Confirm it by clicking to "Yes" button.

   

5. Paste the command below into the Command Line that will open up and hit Enter. This command will delete the damaged registry of the Php_mysqli.dll file (It will not delete the file we pasted into the System32 folder; it will delete the registry in Regedit. The file we pasted into the System32 folder will not be damaged).

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /u Php_mysqli.dll

   

6. If the Windows you use has 64 Bit architecture, after running the command above, you must run the command below. This command will clean the broken registry of the Php_mysqli.dll file from the 64 Bit architecture (The Cleaning process is only with registries in the Windows Registry Editor. In other words, the dll file that we pasted into the SysWoW64 folder will stay as it is).

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /u Php_mysqli.dll

   

7. You must create a new registry for the dll file that you deleted from the registry editor. In order to do this, copy the command below and paste it into the Command Line and hit Enter.

   %windir%\System32\regsvr32.exe /i Php_mysqli.dll

   

8. If you are using a Windows with 64 Bit architecture, after running the previous command, you need to run the command below. By running this command, we will have created a clean registry for the Php_mysqli.dll file (We deleted the damaged registry with the previous command).

   %windir%\SysWoW64\regsvr32.exe /i Php_mysqli.dll

   

9. If you did all the processes correctly, the missing dll file will have been installed. You may have made some mistakes when running the Command Line processes. Generally, these errors will not prevent the Php_mysqli.dll file from being installed. In other words, the installation will be completed, but it may give an error due to some incompatibility issues. You can try running the program that was giving you this dll file error after restarting your computer. If you are still getting the dll file error when running the program, please try the 2nd method.

Method 2: Copying the Php_mysqli.dll File to the Software File Folder 

1. In order to install the dll file, you need to find the file folder for the software that was giving you errors such as "Php_mysqli.dll is missing", "Php_mysqli.dll not found" or similar error messages. In order to do that, Right-click the software's shortcut and click the Properties item in the right-click menu that appears.

   

2. Click on the Open File Location button that is found in the Properties window that opens up and choose the folder where the application is installed.

   

3. Copy the Php_mysqli.dll file.
4. Paste the dll file you copied into the software's file folder that we just opened.

   

5. When the dll file is moved to the software file folder, it means that the process is completed. Check to see if the problem was solved by running the software giving the error message again. If you are still receiving the error message, you can complete the 3rd Method as an alternative.

Method 3: Doing a Clean Reinstall of the Software That Is Giving the Php_mysqli.dll Error 

1. Press the "Windows" + "R" keys at the same time to open the Run tool. Paste the command below into the text field titled "Open" in the Run window that opens and press the Enter key on your keyboard. This command will open the "Programs and Features" tool.

   appwiz.cpl

   

2. The Programs and Features window will open up. Find the software that is giving you the dll error in this window that lists all the softwares on your computer and "Right-Click > Uninstall" on this software.

   

3. Uninstall the software from your computer by following the steps that come up and restart your computer.

   

4. After restarting your computer, reinstall the software that was giving the error.
5. You can solve the error you are expericing with this method. If the dll error is continuing in spite of the solution methods you are using, the source of the problem is the Windows operating system. In order to solve dll errors in Windows you will need to complete the 4th Method and the 5th Method in the list.

Method 4: Solving the Php_mysqli.dll error with the Windows System File Checker 

1. In order to run the Command Line as an administrator, complete the following steps.

   NOTE! In this explanation, we ran the Command Line on Windows 10. If you are using one of the Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP operating systems, you can use the same methods to run the Command Line as an administrator. Even though the pictures are taken from Windows 10, the processes are similar.

   1. First, open the Start Menu and before clicking anywhere, type "cmd" but do not press Enter.
   2. When you see the "Command Line" option among the search results, hit the "CTRL" + "SHIFT" + "ENTER" keys on your keyboard.
   3. A window will pop up asking, "Do you want to run this process?". Confirm it by clicking to "Yes" button.

   

2. After typing the command below into the Command Line, push Enter.

   sfc /scannow

   

3. Depending on your computer's performance and the amount of errors on your system, this process can take some time. You can see the progress on the Command Line. Wait for this process to end. After the scan and repair processes are finished, try running the software giving you errors again.

Method 5: Fixing the Php_mysqli.dll Error by Manually Updating Windows 

Most of the time, softwares have been programmed to use the most recent dll files. If your operating system is not updated, these files cannot be provided and dll errors appear. So, we will try to solve the dll errors by updating the operating system.

Since the methods to update Windows versions are different from each other, we found it appropriate to prepare a separate article for each Windows version. You can get our update article that relates to your operating system version by using the links below.

Guides to Manually Update for All Windows Versions 

1. Guide to Manually Update Windows 10
2. Guide to Manually Update Windows 8.1 and Windows 8
3. Guide to Manually Update Windows 7 and Windows Vista
4. Guide to Manually Update Windows XP