How to solve ‘javac or java not recognized’ error

Updated:

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By

Coder Sathi

There are a few things you can try if you are experiencing the error “javac or java is not recognized” when trying to use the javac or java commands in your command prompt or terminal.

  1. Make sure that you have the Java Development Kit (JDK) installed on your system. The javac command is included in the JDK, so you need to have it installed to be able to use it to avoid error “javac or java is not recognized”.
  2. Check that the location of the JDK installation is included in your system’s PATH environment variable. The PATH is a list of directories that your system searches for executables when you type a command in the terminal. To check if the JDK installation directory is included in the PATH, you can follow these steps:
  • In the terminal, enter the following command:
echo %PATH%
  • This will print out the directories that are included in the PATH, separated by semicolons. Look for the directory that contains the javac executable file. On Windows, this is usually something like C:\Program Files\Java\jdk_version\bin. On macOS and Linux, it might be something like /usr/local/jdk_version/bin.
  • If you can’t find the JDK installation directory in the PATH, you will need to add it. To do this, you can follow these steps:
  • On Windows:
    • Right-click on the “My Computer” or “This PC” icon on your desktop and select “Properties”.
    • Click on the “Advanced system settings” link on the left side of the window.
    • Click on the “Environment Variables” button.
    • Under the “System Variables” section, find the “Path” variable and click on “Edit”.
    • Add the JDK installation directory to the end of the list (separated by a semicolon).
    • Click “OK” to save the changes.
  • On macOS and Linux:
    • Open the terminal and enter the following command:
export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/jdk/bin

Replace /path/to/jdk/bin with the actual path to the JDK installation directory on your system.

  • To make this change permanent, you will need to edit your shell profile file. For example, if you are using the Bash shell, you can enter the following command:
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/jdk/bin' >> ~/.bashrc
  1. If you have installed the JDK and added it to the PATH, but you are still getting the “javac or java is not recognized” error, try closing and reopening your terminal or command prompt. This will refresh the environment variables and allow the changes you made to take effect.

By following the steps given above, the error javac or java not recognized should be solved. Thanks

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