Set JAVA_HOME Variable in Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux

1. Overview

In this quick tutorial, we’ll take a look at how to set the JAVA_HOME variable on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

2. Windows

2.1. Windows 11

1. Let’s locate the directory where the JDK is installed on our system, and note down the path to this directory.
2. Right-click on the Windows Start button and select System.
3. In the System window, click on Advanced System Settings on the left sidebar.
4. In the System Properties window (Advanced tab):
   • Click the Environment Variables button.
   • Under the System Variables section, find JAVA_HOME.
   • Click Edit to modify the existing variable, or New to create a new one.
   • In the Variable Name field, enter JAVA_HOME.
   • In the Variable Value field, enter the path to our JDK installation directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.x.x_xx).
5. In the System Properties window, select the Path variable under the System Variables section. Click Edit, and add %JAVA_HOME%\bin to the list of paths if it’s not already there.
6. Click OK to apply the changes and restart the computer to ensure the changes take effect.

2.2. Windows 8 and 10

1. Open Search and type advanced system settings.
2. In the shown options, select the View advanced system settings link.
3. Under the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.
4. In the System variables section, click New (or User variables for single user setting).
5. Set JAVA_HOME as the Variable name, and the path to the JDK installation as the Variable value, and then click OK.
6. Click OK and then Apply to apply the changes.

2.3. Windows 7

1. On the Desktop, right-click My Computer and select Properties.
2. Under the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.
3. In the System variables section, click New (or User variables for single user setting).
4. Set JAVA_HOME as the Variable name, and the path to the JDK installation as the Variable value, and click OK.
5. Click OK and then Apply to apply the changes.

Open Command Prompt and check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo %JAVA_HOME%

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_111

Note that it’s still necessary to restart the computer to ensure the changes take effect in all applications.

3.1. Single User – Mac OS X 10.5 or Newer

In OS X 10.5, Apple introduced a command line tool (/usr/libexec/java_home) that dynamically finds the top Java version specified in Java Preferences for the current user.

Open ~/.bash_profile in any text editor and add the following:

export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)

Then save and close the file.

Open a Terminal and run the source command to apply the changes:

source ~/.bash_profile

Now we can check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo $JAVA_HOME

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_111.jdk/Contents/Home

3.2. Single User – Mac OS X Older Versions

For older versions of OS X, we have to set the exact path to the JDK installation.

Open ~/.bash_profile in any editor and add the following:

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java_installation

Then save and close the file.

Open a Terminal and run the source command to apply the changes:

source ~/.bash_profile

Now we can check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo $JAVA_HOME

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_111.jdk/Contents/Home

3.3. Global Setting

To set JAVA_HOME globally for all users, the steps are the same as for a single user, but we use the file /etc/profile.

4. Linux

Here we’re going to manipulate the PATH, so these are the detailed instructions on how to do it.

4.1. Single User

To set JAVA_HOME in Linux for a single user, we can use /etc/profile or /etc/environment (preferred for system-wide setting) or ~/.bashrc (user-specific setting).

Open ~/.bashrc in any text editor and add the following:

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java_installation

Then save and close the file.

Run the source command to load the variable:

source ~/.bashrc

Now we can check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo $JAVA_HOME

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle

4.2. Global Setting

To set JAVA_HOME in Linux for all users, we can use /etc/profile or /etc/environment (preferred).

Open /etc/environment in any text editor and add the following:

JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java_installation

Please note that /etc/environment isn’t a script, but a list of assignment expressions (that’s why export isn’t used). This file is read at the time of login.

To set JAVA_HOME using /etc/profile, here’s what we’ll add to the file:

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java_installation

Run the source command to load the variable:

source /etc/profile

Now we can check the value of the JAVA_HOME variable:

echo $JAVA_HOME

The result should be the path to the JDK installation:

/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-oracle

5. Conclusion

In this article, we covered how to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.