Vulkan Run Time Libraries 1.0.39.1 May 2026

| Feature / Version | 1.0.39.1 | Vulkan 1.3 / 1.4 | |------------------|-----------|--------------------| | Release Year | 2017 | 2022–2026 | | Dynamic Rendering | No | Yes | | Extended features (Ray Tracing, Mesh Shaders) | No | Yes | | Maintenance updates | Ended | Active | | Modern game support | Limited (older titles only) | Full | | Security patches | None | Regular |

Bottom line: 1.0.39.1 is deprecated. It works, but you’re missing out on performance improvements and newer rendering techniques.

You likely did not download it manually. Here are the typical sources: vulkan run time libraries 1.0.39.1

| Source | Description | |--------|-------------| | Graphics Driver Installer | NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel driver packages include a specific Vulkan RT version. | | Video Game Installation | Games that require Vulkan often bundle the runtime (e.g., Rise of the Tomb Raider, Dota 2). | | Game Engine Launchers | Steam may automatically install prerequisites including Vulkan. | | Windows Update | Very rare, but some Windows 10/11 cumulative updates include Vulkan components. |

If you have an older GPU (e.g., NVIDIA GTX 900 series or AMD Radeon RX 400 series) and haven’t updated drivers in years, your system likely retains version 1.0.39.1. | Feature / Version | 1

Before understanding the libraries, you need to understand Vulkan. Vulkan is a low-overhead, cross-platform 3D graphics and compute API (Application Programming Interface) developed by the Khronos Group. It was designed to be a modern successor to OpenGL, offering developers much more direct control over GPU hardware.

Key features of Vulkan include:

The Vulkan Run Time Libraries are the essential system files (DLLs, loaders, and layers) that allow Vulkan-enabled applications to communicate with your graphics card.

The short answer: No.

The long answer: If you uninstall this library, any game or application that relies on Vulkan will fail to launch or crash immediately. It takes up a negligible amount of space (usually less than 5MB), so there is no benefit to removing it to save disk space.

Exception: If you have upgraded to a much newer version of Vulkan but the old version 1.0.39.1 is stubbornly still listed in your installed programs list (and you are experiencing graphics glitches), you could uninstall it and then repair your current graphics driver installation to force a clean, newer version of Vulkan to take over. However, for most users, simply ignoring it is the best course of action. You likely did not download it manually