How to Change Java Versions in Windows
(Updated for Java 19)

Sven Woltmann

September 20, 2022

In this article, I will show you how to install multiple Java versions on Windows and how to change the Java version on the command line:

To enable these Java version change commands on your system as well, follow this step-by-step guide.

Let's go…

Step 1: Installing Multiple Java Versions

Installing multiple Java versions in parallel is incredibly easy in Windows. You can download and run the installer for each version, which automatically installs the versions in separate directories.

Download Sources

Java SE 1.1 – You can no longer install this version on 64-bit Windows.
Java SE 1.2 – Installed to C:\jdk1.2.2\ and C:\Program Files (x86)\JavaSoft\JRE\1.2\ by default – I recommend changing this to C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.2.2\ and C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.2.2\ for the sake of clarity.
Java SE 1.3 – Installed to C:\jdk1.3.1_28\ by default – I recommend changing this to C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.3.1_28\.
Java SE 1.4 – Installed to C:\j2sdk1.4.2_19\ by default – I recommend changing this to C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.4.2_19\.

Starting with the following versions, you don't need to change the default installation directories:

Java SE 5
Java SE 6
Java SE 7
Java SE 8
Java SE 9 / OpenJDK 9
Java SE 10 / OpenJDK 10 (→ The most important new features in Java 10)

Attention – you may use the following Oracle distributions only for private purposes and development:

Java SE 11 / OpenJDK 11 (→ The most important new features in Java 11)
Java SE 12 / OpenJDK 12 (→ The most important new features in Java 12)
Java SE 13 / OpenJDK 13 (→ The most important new features in Java 13)
Java SE 14 / OpenJDK 14 (→ The most important new features in Java 14)
Java SE 15 / OpenJDK 15 (→ The most important new features in Java 15)
Java SE 16 / OpenJDK 16 (→ The most important new features in Java 16)
Java SE 17 / OpenJDK 17 (→ The most important new features in Java 17)
Java SE 18 / OpenJDK 18 (→ The most important new features in Java 18)
Java SE 19 / OpenJDK 19 (→ The most important new features in Java 19)

The following version is currently an early access build. You should use it only for testing purposes:

JDK 20 Early-Access Build (→ The most important new features in Java 20)

Step 2: Define Java Environment Variables

The following two environment variables decide which Java version an application uses:

JAVA_HOME – many start scripts use this variable.
Path – is used when running a Java binary (such as java and javac) from the console.

These variables should always point to the same Java installation to avoid inconsistencies. Some programs, such as Eclipse, define the Java version in a separate configuration file (for Eclipse, for example, this is the entry "-vm" in the eclipse.ini file).

Manually Setting the Java Environment Variables

The Java installers create various environment variables, which you need to clean up first (see below). The fastest way to change the environment variables is to press the Windows key and type "env" – Windows then offers "Edit the system environment variables" as a search result:

At this point, you can press "Enter" to open the system properties:

Click on "Environment Variables…" and the following window opens:

As the default version, I recommend the current release version, Java 19. Accordingly, you should make the following settings:

The top list ("User variables") should not contain any Java-related entries.
The lower list ("System variables") should contain an entry "JAVA_HOME = C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-19". If this entry does not exist, you can add it with "New…". If it exists but points to another directory, you can change it with "Edit…".
Delete the following entries under "Path" (if they exist):
- C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath
Insert the following entry instead:
- %JAVA_HOME%\bin

The entry should then look like the following (the other entries in the list will probably look different for you since you have other applications installed than I do):

Adding "%JAVA_HOME%\bin" to the "Path" system variable

The last entry ensures that Path and JAVA_HOME are automatically consistent.

Attention: this only works for the default setting configured here. If you change JAVA_HOME via the command line, you have to adjust Path accordingly. But don't worry – the scripts you can download in the next step will do that automatically.

How to Check Your Java Version on Windows

Now open a command line to check the settings with the following commands:

echo %JAVA_HOME%
java -versionCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Here's what you should see:

Step 3: Install the Scripts to Change the Java Version

To change the Java version on the command line, I have prepared some batch files that you can copy to your system. Here is the link: scripts-up-to-java20-v2.zip

The ZIP file contains scripts named java20.bat, java19.bat, java18.bat, etc., for all Java versions, plus some common scripts starting with "javaX". I suggest you unpack the scripts to C:\Program Files\Java\scripts.

The scripts look like this:

java19.bat:

@echo off
call javaX "Java 19"Code language: DOS .bat (dos)

javaX.bat:

@echo off
call javaX-JAVA_HOME %1
set Path=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%Path%
echo %~1 activated.
Code language: DOS .bat (dos)

javaX-JAVA_HOME.bat:

@echo off
if %1 == "Java 1.2" set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.2.2
if %1 == "Java 1.3" set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.3.1_28
...
if %1 == "Java 19" set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-19
if %1 == "Java 20" set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-20Code language: DOS .bat (dos)

The scripts update the JAVA_HOME environment variable and insert the bin directory at the beginning of the Path variable. That makes it the first directory to be searched for the corresponding executable when you run Java commands such as java or javac.

(The Path variable gets longer with each change. Do not worry about it. This only affects the currently opened command line.)

Step 4: Add the Script Directory to the Path

To be able to call the scripts from anywhere, you have to add the directory to the "Path" environment variable (just like you did with "%JAVA_HOME%\bin" in the second step):

Adding "C:\Program Files\Java\scripts" to the "Path" system variable

If you have installed the latest releases of all Java versions, you can use the scripts without any further adjustments. Open a new command line and enter, e.g., the following commands:

If one of the commands does not activate the expected Java version, please check if the path in the javaX-JAVA_HOME.bat file corresponds to the installation path of the Java version you want to activate.

Temporary, Permanent, and System-Wide Java Version Changes

The commands presented up to this point only affect the currently opened command line. As soon as you open another command line, the default version defined in step 2 is active again (Java 19, if you have not changed anything).

That is why there are not one but three scripts for each Java version:

java<version>: Activates the Java version in the current command line.
java<version>-user: Sets the Java version as the default version for your user account.
java<version>-system: Sets the Java version as the default version for the entire system-

The -user variants of the scripts additionally set the JAVA_HOME environment variable with the setx command, permanently writing the change to the registry:

java19-user.bat:

@echo off
call javaX-user "Java 19"Code language: DOS .bat (dos)

javaX-user.bat:

@echo off
call javaX-JAVA_HOME %1
setx JAVA_HOME "%JAVA_HOME%"
set Path=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%Path%
echo %~1 activated as user default.
Code language: DOS .bat (dos)

The -system variants also specify the /M parameter in the setx command. This sets the system-wide environment variable instead of the user-specific one:

java19-system.bat:

@echo off
call javaX-system "Java 19"Code language: DOS .bat (dos)

javaX-system.bat:

@echo off
call javaX-JAVA_HOME %1
setx JAVA_HOME "%JAVA_HOME%" /M
set Path=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%Path%
echo %~1 activated as system-wide default.
Code language: DOS .bat (dos)

Attention: To set the system-wide Java version, you must open the command line as an administrator. Otherwise, you will get the error message "ERROR: Access to the registry path is denied.

What You Should Do Next…

I hope you were able to follow the instructions well and that the commands work for you.

Now I would like to hear from you:

Were you able to follow the steps well – or do you have unanswered questions?

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below.

85 comments on “How to Change Java Versions in Windows (Updated for Java 19)”

Daniel Dawson says:

April 20, 2020 at 9:13 pm

I did this and now I can use command prompts to switch between versions as verified with "java -version" BUT I still cannot get my browser based interface to function correctly on the version 6. It DOES function correctly if I uninstall all Javas and reinstall just 6. Does this method not work for browser based applications?

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 22, 2021 at 8:56 am
  
  Hi Daniel, the scripts from the first version of this article worked only in the command line, in which you executed them. The latest version of the article now contains additional scripts to change the user and system defaults (see chapter "Temporary, Permanent and System-Wide Java Version Changes").
  
  Or are you speaking of Java applets? Support for applets has been removed with Java 11, and I haven't worked with them in years, so I don't know if there's a way to change the Java version used for applets.
  
HK says:

June 22, 2020 at 3:53 pm

Java folder is not editable. we cannot create any file in it.

1. Jaineel says:
  
  March 27, 2021 at 12:47 pm
  
  Try creating files in some other directory (say D drive) and then move those files to java folder. While moving, Windows will show a Administrator dialog box, click YES.
  
Richard says:

June 29, 2020 at 1:00 pm

Just wanted to leave a side note, I had found that whilst I had JAVA_HOME set to jdk 1.6 and had removed from PATH:
- C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath

I had to move the %JAVA_HOME%\bin to the first option in the PATH as before when it was last in the list of values, when I ran java -version in cmd, it reported java 1.8 instead of java 1.6 which did show when I ran: echo %JAVA_HOME%

Might be something to do with the PATH value %SystemRoot%\system32 which is high up in the list and appears to have a java.exe placed within (might have been placed by the jdk8 installation perhaps?)

Chris says:

July 13, 2020 at 4:34 pm

Finally solution that WORKS. Thats also so great that you provided scripts.

You just need to remember that after switching java version with script and closing terminal, next terminal will open with java default version, not the one from last script run.

Thank you!

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 22, 2021 at 8:58 am
  
  Hi Chris, I have released a new set of scripts that also contain commands to switch the Java version permanently (see section "Temporary, Permanent and System-Wide Java Version Changes").
  
  1. Pedro says:
    
    July 4, 2022 at 12:23 pm
    
    These don't seem to be permanent at all. Is it just for me? (Yes the new scripts system and user scripts)
  2. Mrunali says:
    
    March 9, 2023 at 9:37 am
    
    permanent changes of version are not reflecting
sainath says:

July 21, 2020 at 10:15 am

Really Appreciated for this post
But it is only working in the command prompt.
I am using gitbash here it is not working.
can you assist where I can change it?

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 21, 2021 at 1:12 pm
  
  Hi sainath, in gitbash, you have to write the full file name of the script, e.g. java11.bat.
  
SHASHI says:

August 14, 2020 at 5:36 pm

Once I switch the version how would I keep it same across?

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 22, 2021 at 9:01 am
  
  Hi Sashi, use the "...-user" or "...-system" commands described in the section "Temporary, Permanent and System-Wide Java Version Changes".
  
Kolton Kulis says:

August 14, 2020 at 8:48 pm

Sven, there is a side affect in this script. Every time you run one of those scripts, a new JAVA_HOME entry is prepended to your path. As an example, I ran java8.bat three times in a row, and this is the start of my PATH: "C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_201\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_201\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_201\bin".

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  December 14, 2020 at 9:16 am
  
  Hi Kolton, yes I know, I couldn't find an easy way to fix this. But the changes are not permanent, they only apply to the current command line. Therefore I think it is OK.
  
Frank says:

August 27, 2020 at 8:36 pm

Thank you! This helps a lot! especially the script!

Mete Senocak says:

September 19, 2020 at 10:24 pm

Just a little correction:
If you add JAVA_HOME = C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-15\ and then add "%JAVA_HOME%\bin" to Path, the command "echo %Path%" displays: "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-15\\bin" (with double \\). Therefore, I had to remove the last \ from JAVA_HOME.

1. Mete Senocak says:
  
  September 19, 2020 at 10:28 pm
  
  Forgot to mention that the article was very helpful. Thank you very much!
  
2. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  December 14, 2020 at 9:24 am
  
  Thanks for the correction! You are absolutely right. I've changed it in the screenshots and text.
  
JavaMan says:

October 17, 2020 at 7:42 pm

Hello everyone.
First of all thanks for the script.
In my case the change of jdk worked but each time a new terminal was launched the default jdk came back ...
As a result, I modified the script so that now with each change, the jdk selected by script is 'saved'. You have to add the REG (be careful , only in one line) line as below by adapting the right path of the jdk to your configuration:

@echo off
set JAVA_HOME = C: \ OpenJDK-15
set Path =% JAVA_HOME% \ bin;% Path%
REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ ControlSet001 \ Control \ Session Manager \ Environment" undefined v "JAVA_HOME" undefined t "REG_SZ" undefined d "C: \ OpenJDK-15 \\" undefined f
echo Java 15 activated.

1. JavaMan says:
  
  October 17, 2020 at 7:46 pm
  
  be careful too, no space in script with \ and %
  
2. Soung says:
  
  November 1, 2020 at 8:12 pm
  
  Great idea JavaMan
  Could you please share the correct "reg add" command ? I think it will help.
  
  What means thes "undefined" string in the REG ADD command ?
  
  I've tried with this :
  REG ADD "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Environment" undefined v "JAVA_HOME" undefined t "REG_SZ" undefined d "C:\Program Files\OpenJDK\openjdk-8u262-b10\" undefined f
  But the commande is not working. do you see something wrong here ?
  
  Thank you
  
3. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 22, 2021 at 9:04 am
  
  Instead of using "reg add", you can use "setx". It's shorter and has an immediate effect, while the changes made with "reg add" take several minutes, sometimes even a restart to be effective.
  
  I've added new commands (ending with "-user" and "-system") to set the user and system-wide default Java version permanently (see section "Temporary, Permanent and System-Wide Java Version Changes").
  
Tejashree Tandel says:

December 13, 2020 at 3:58 pm

I love you. This was the easiest thing to follow.

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  December 14, 2020 at 9:13 am
  
  Thanks - happy that I could help :)
  
2. sarpedon says:
  
  December 30, 2020 at 12:09 am
  
  actually the easiest way is to use https://github.com/shyiko/jabba which gives you a hand on version selection, installation and auto switching, all the things that a good java version manager can provide.
  cheers!
  
Hassan Soltansharifi says:

February 21, 2021 at 2:21 pm

Thankyou Sven Woltmann.

I used your post and enjoyed it
Thanks.

Erdem Akçalı says:

March 2, 2021 at 10:33 am

Thanks for the informative guide.
One strange thing that happened to me is because I had folders with special characters in my path variable (C:\Adb&FastBoot), set Path=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%Path% would still work but also echo Fastboot is not a recognized command. Probably breaking some other things after the C:\Adb&FastBoot.
Altering the switching scripts from set Path=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%Path% to set "Path=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%Path%" sorted things out.

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  May 12, 2021 at 10:22 am
  
  Thank you Erdem, for your message. This hopefully helps others, too.
  
Hamed says:

April 26, 2021 at 12:32 pm

PowerShell version of the script

$Env:JAVA_HOME="C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.5"
$Env:Path="$Env:JAVA_HOME\bin;$Env:Path"
Write-Host Java 11 activated.

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  May 12, 2021 at 10:22 am
  
  Thank you Hamed!
  
Anurag Srigyan says:

May 11, 2021 at 3:11 pm

Delete the following entries under "Path":
C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath

Why are we deleting these two?

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  May 12, 2021 at 10:24 am
  
  Because we want to use the Java executables in %JAVA_HOME%\bin; not in C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath or C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath.
  
Don A in Pennsyltucky says:

May 14, 2021 at 4:13 pm

I didn't set it up on the Windows 10 Server but I think that when it starts as a service using Tomcat9.exe it is ignoring the environment variable and using the -auto option to locate the JVM in the registry. I am not a Windows aficionado so I am not sure what the registry key would be and there are only about 1500 of them.

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  May 14, 2021 at 5:00 pm
  
  Hey Don, I've never set up Tomcat as a Service on Windows. But usually, Tomcat has a setenv.bat file in the bin directory, where you can set the JAVA_HOME environment variable.
  
Kaustubh CHoudhary says:

June 6, 2021 at 8:18 am

This has been one of the most fruitful topics I have read and implemented in a long time. This problem of working on multiple Java versions simultaneously has been haunting me for a long time. The solution provided is cute, simple and it is going to save several hours of misery for me. Thanks

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 22, 2021 at 9:07 am
  
  Very happy I could help :)
  
Nils says:

June 18, 2021 at 11:45 pm

Thanks for the inspiration, I did not want to change the java version "per shell/terminal" but rather for the user/machine.

I wrote a litte tool to help me do this. It's freely available at https://www.nuget.org/packages/JavaVersionSwitcher/

Love to hear what you think of it.

Amol Devanikar says:

July 7, 2021 at 10:33 pm

nice solution for switching versions, i was trying to merge all the version scripts in one bat file but and added a if else statement i am not able to run that bat file by default in my command prompt. Any idea

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 15, 2021 at 10:25 am
  
  Hi Amol, how does your batch file look like? What exactly is the problem?
  
Chase says:

July 15, 2021 at 6:49 am

I'm trying to switch between Java 8 and Java 16. In the terminal I use the commands in ("java8"/"java16"), it confirms that my version has been switched, but as soon as I close and open a new terminal, it is still the version I tried to switch off of. I have very little experience with this stuff, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 22, 2021 at 9:13 am
  
  Hi Chase, you can use the recently added commands "java8-user" and "java16-user" (for example) to set the Java version permanently for your user account (see the newly added section "Temporary, Permanent and System-Wide Java Version Changes").
  
Evalyne says:

July 30, 2021 at 12:09 am

Hi, would like these scripts if they worked, had to change what the java8 script goes to because it went for jdk1.8.0_231 while the actual was jre1.8.0_301.

This is fine, however, the script doesn't work properly with -user suffix, given, my computer seems to be special in how it does things. The user variable Path has one value, and it goes to %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps
If there is a better value or values for it, please respond with such or at least one for JAVA_HOME variable for User to work.

Shawn Dion says:

September 3, 2021 at 3:18 pm

Nice work, I did one change though I merged them all into one and used the %1 %2 to indicate the version I was interested in running and if I wanted it user or system besides that excellent work. Thanks for taking the time to make the tutorial.

I'Marree says:

September 9, 2021 at 5:24 pm

Very helpful. Was able to find the correct path. Your steps were wonderful. Thanks!

Carl Josef says:

September 21, 2021 at 4:10 pm

Fantastic Guide, I think it is one of the best. And as I wanted diffrent versions that all of the scripts offer. Fantastic work Sven ;)

Best regards Carl Josef

Yury Huminski says:

September 22, 2021 at 11:00 am

Thank you very much! It works wonderful. This is very helpful information. t

Arnob says:

November 10, 2021 at 2:01 pm

I observed an issue while attempting to switch between Java versions in Windows 10.

Even after setting JAVA_HOME and the corresponding PATH entry you may still see older/previous version of Java/jdk upon running java -version.

To fix this you'll need to remove the entry C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath from PATH and make sure you have %JAVA_HOME%\bin entry under PATH and corresponding JAVA_HOME defined.

More info:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5492937/windows-ignores-java-home-how-to-set-jdk-as-default/69913509#69913509

ali says:

November 21, 2021 at 7:52 am

tnx a lot :XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Laziz says:

December 7, 2021 at 11:36 am

Thank you

CodeCraft says:

December 21, 2021 at 10:33 am

hi mam this is a real help as a minecraft dev I am still coding in 1.17.1 and was planning to shift on 1.18 but both have a different jdk and thanks to you no i can switch between jdk version and use spigot

this really helped man

Marco says:

January 8, 2022 at 3:33 pm

I have a problem:
I did everything you did but now whenever I try to change java version in cmd with your scripts, the java version remains the same.

The following is an extract of my cmd:

>echo %JAVA_HOME%
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17

>java -version
java version "17.0.1" 2021-10-19 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 17.0.1+12-LTS-39)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 17.0.1+12-LTS-39, mixed mode,
sharing)

>java8
Java 8 is activated.

>echo %JAVA_HOME%
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_331

>java -version
java version "17.0.1" 2021-10-19 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 17.0.1+12-LTS-39)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 17.0.1+12-LTS-39, mixed mode,
sharing)

Trying with the system and user change does the same thing.
Please help

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  January 19, 2022 at 10:31 am
  
  Hi Marco,
  
  Which java command is taken depends on the path, not the JAVA_HOME variable.
  Can you print your path before and after you call java8?
  
  So, instead of
  
  echo %JAVA_HOME%
  
  call
  
  echo %JAVA_HOME%
  echo %PATH%
  
  And then post the output here again?
  
Niko says:

January 19, 2022 at 5:53 pm

Appreciate the article, I was having issues running a modded Minecraft server as mods can be picky about the java version there run on and was looking for a quick and simple solution just like this one, was extremely simple and easy to follow

Greg says:

February 3, 2022 at 11:02 am

Very handy and informative. This helped me solve an issue my manager was having in real-time while we were working remotely.

dj says:

February 3, 2022 at 8:15 pm

This is one of the few posts ive seen that both provides a great description for how to set up java, as well as the easiest way ive seen to switch java versions on the fly.
10/10 would recommend to my whole company (already have ;))

Meeran Mohideen says:

February 15, 2022 at 1:31 pm

Thanks!

Its working fine.

Konstantin says:

February 24, 2022 at 7:47 pm

Why not to just use the sdkman?

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  February 24, 2022 at 10:54 pm
  
  This is a different approach that does not work natively on Windows. That would need a tutorial article in itself ;)
  
Lokesh Vasu says:

March 13, 2022 at 8:10 pm

Hi Sven,

Please help me regarding this.

Followed the same process, but not getting the version properly.

C:\Users\lokesh.vasu>java -version
java version "11.0.4" 2019-07-16 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.4+10-LTS)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.4+10-LTS, mixed mode)

C:\Users\lokesh.vasu>java8
Java 8 activated.

C:\Users\lokesh.vasu>java -version
java version "11.0.4" 2019-07-16 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.4+10-LTS)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.4+10-LTS, mixed mode)

C:\Users\lokesh.vasu>echo %JAVA_HOME%
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_291

C:\Users\lokesh.vasu>echo %PATH%
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_291\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.11\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_291\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_291\bin;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.4\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\scripts;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.13\bin;C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_202\bin;C:\Users\lokesh.vasu\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;

C:\Users\lokesh.vasu>java -version
java version "11.0.4" 2019-07-16 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.4+10-LTS)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.4+10-LTS, mixed mode)

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  March 20, 2022 at 5:55 pm
  
  Hi, it looks like everything works correctly.
  
  C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_291\bin is the first directory on your path.
  
  So it should take the java command from that directory.
  
  Have you checked that this directory exists and that the java.exe is in it?
  
Gallium Wang says:

March 31, 2022 at 1:50 pm

great article😘

Joshua N. says:

May 18, 2022 at 4:36 am

I had trouble running my Minecraft server requiring to be run on an older version of Java, and this article helped a bunch! Thank you!

1. Bathiya says:
  
  July 2, 2022 at 6:11 pm
  
  it helps lot, Thanks for sharing
  
Timothy Anthony says:

July 14, 2022 at 5:34 pm

Running version not being changed in GitBash. It works on CMD only. Any help?

[email protected] MINGW64 ~
$ java -version
java version "11.0.15" 2022-04-19 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.15+8-LTS-149)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.15+8-LTS-149, mixed mode)

[email protected] MINGW64 ~
$ java8.bat
Java 8 activated.

[email protected] MINGW64 ~
$ java -version
java version "11.0.15" 2022-04-19 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.15+8-LTS-149)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.15+8-LTS-149, mixed mode)

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  July 16, 2022 at 1:58 pm
  
  Hi Timothy,
  
  that's because the syntax in Git Bash is different from the Windows command syntax; you basically have to use Linux syntax there.
  
  Instead of
  
  set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.11
  set Path=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%Path%
  
  you have to say:
  
  set JAVA_HOME=/c/Program Files/Java/jdk-11.0.11
  set PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
  
  Hope that helps.
  
  Best wishes
  Sven
  
  1. Timothy Anthony says:
    
    July 27, 2022 at 10:51 pm
    
    Thank you I will try this solution. +
    
    So that means I can only use either GITBASH or CMD command prompts?
  2. Sven Woltmann says:
    
    July 28, 2022 at 11:20 am
    
    No, you can easily have both.
    
    Just create two different files:
    - leave the "java11.bat" for Windows
    - and add a "java11" file (without file extension) for GitBash
    
    When you then enter "java11", Windows will automatically pick the java11.bat file, and GitBash will pick the file without extension.
Aniket says:

September 28, 2022 at 3:26 pm

When I switch java 8 to java 18 no problem but when try to switch java 8 it does not occur

Kai says:

October 10, 2022 at 3:40 pm

I'd suggest to modify the scripts in a way, that the paths are set in one file only. I realized that a lot of work is involved if you want to install to another location and each and every script file had to be adapted.
I have updated the scripts in a way, that the javaN.bat/javaN-user.bat/javaN-system.bat have basically just have one line that redirects to a generic script that does everything the original script does, but using the version as a parameter. To combine them further, I used another script to set JAVA_HOME based on the parameter, so that all the version-path-mappings are enclosed in this one file.

Example:
java19.bat:
@echo off
call javaX java19

javaX.bat:
call javaX-JavaHome %1
set Path=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%Path%
echo %1 activated.

javaX-JavaHome.bat (only place where to adjust paths):
set JavaDefault=C:\...\jdk-17.0.4.1+1
set JAVA_HOME=JavaDefault
if %1 == java8 set JAVA_HOME=C:\...\jdk8u345-b01
...
if %1 == java16 set JAVA_HOME=C:\...\jdk-16.0.2+7
if %1 == java17 set JAVA_HOME=C:\...\jdk-17.0.4.1+1
if %1 == java18 set JAVA_HOME=C:\...\jdk-18.0.2.1+1
if %1 == java19 set JAVA_HOME=C:\...\jdk-19+36

However, I really like the your work and the proposed scripts. Thank you!

Pedro says:

October 20, 2022 at 7:51 pm

Genial tu tutorial ¡

mahzad says:

October 24, 2022 at 10:37 am

thanks a lot.I removed path entry C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath from PATH and fix it.

A says:

October 24, 2022 at 6:55 pm

Good forum, I will do follow like that, Thank you so much.

Bettin Jacob says:

November 1, 2022 at 5:36 pm

Worked really well for me with very minor changes.

-- Delete "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Oracle\Java\javapath" this one also if it exists, which existed for me.

-- Please be careful of the jdk version in batch files. It should be specific to the one on your system for this to work as intended.

Author has mentioned it clearly "If one of the commands does not activate the expected Java version, please check if the path in the batch file corresponds to the installation path of the Java version you want to activate."

Thanks a lot Sven for such a detailed and precise article. Wonderful!!

Tezasn says:

November 3, 2022 at 1:18 pm

#ask
my default java 19
when i change to java8-system
then i call java -version 'success' change to java 8
but when i call javac -version 'this version call java 19'
how to change java and javac to version i want? thanks before

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  February 12, 2023 at 12:46 am
  
  Hi Tezasn,
  
  please check your path settings as described in the article. You probably have another directory on your path that contains the javac command from Java 8.
  
  Best wishes
  Sven
  
ItsChugg says:

February 11, 2023 at 1:42 am

Hi Sven, how do the user and system variants of the scripts function? When attempting to switch java versions, neither of them work.

Doing "java8-user" or "java8-master" in the CMD window do not change the version at all, while doing java8 changes the version in the current CMD, but the changes are not saved.

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  February 12, 2023 at 12:48 am
  
  Hi ItsChugg,
  
  please make sure you followed the instructions above. Make sure you only have the %JAVA_HOME%\bin directory on your path, no other directory that contains Java executables.
  
  Best wishes
  Sven
  
Giovanni Quartarone says:

March 5, 2023 at 2:02 am

it tells java 8 activated, altough it dosen't change the version

1. Giovanni Quartarone says:
  
  March 5, 2023 at 2:20 am
  
  k, i resolved, Go in javaX-JAVA_HOME and be sure that refferred to the java u want to use, it is releted the exact java version u have installed:
  i had written in this file, that when i try to switch to java 8, the computer was searching for java 1.8_243 that wasn't my exact java 1.8 version, so i changed it to java 1.8_361 (the one i installed) and it will work
  
Jack sandler says:

March 5, 2023 at 3:58 am

what if i want to put the command in a bat file?
when i try to, the bat stops going on
ex:
Java8
*stuff to do*

in output i receive "java 8 sctivated", without doing the stuff to do
how can i solve this?

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  March 6, 2023 at 9:21 am
  
  Hi Jack,
  
  you have to put "call" in front, for example:
  
  call java8.bat
  
Dee says:

March 5, 2023 at 11:50 pm

This guide took me a whole day to understand and was extremely confusing, a 2 minute video on youtube was far better than this terrible guide

1. Sven Woltmann says:
  
  March 6, 2023 at 9:22 am
  
  Hi Dee, what exactly did you find confusing? Maybe your answer can help me improve the article.
  
Sri Ramaswamy says:

March 21, 2023 at 3:41 pm

Simple and very effective!
Thank you!