How to See What DLL Files are used by Programs

By Editorial Team

Updated July 21, 2017

Dynamic Link Library (DLL) files are libraries that are used by programs in Windows. A library is a collection of programming code that can be used by multiple programs. These libraries are loaded into memory by the program when the program executes. You can see what DLL files are loaded into memory by each program currently running on your computer.

Navigate to the "Start" menu and select "Run." In the Run dialog, type "cmd" (without quotes) and click "OK." The Command Prompt dialog opens.

Type "tasklist /m" (without quotes) and press "Enter." Every application running and all the dll files that have been loaded will appear.

To get a list of dll files loaded for a specific executable program, type this command:

tasklist /m /fi "imagename eq [programname]"

Replace [programname] with the name of the executable file you want to look up. For instance: tasklist /m /fi "imagename eq explorer.exe"

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