How can I set the JAVA_HOME environment variable on my Mac?

General Discussions
1

I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro, and this is my first Mac ever, so I’m still getting the hang of things. I’m also new to Java, as I was practicing on my Windows PC before it permanently died.

Now that I’ve installed my JDK, I need to set JAVA_HOME on my Mac, but I’m not sure how to do it. I tried following some guides like those from Mkyong and YouTube, but I ended up creating multiple files and getting error messages. For example, one message says another program might be editing the same file, and another suggests there was a crash while editing the file.

Can anyone guide me step-by-step on how to properly set JAVA_HOME on Mac?

2

If you’re using the Terminal and you’re still working with the Bash shell (which was default before macOS Catalina), you can set JAVA_HOME in your .bash_profile file.

Here’s how:

  1. Open Terminal on your Mac.

  2. Type nano ~/.bash_profile to open the .bash_profile file in the nano editor.

    If the file doesn’t exist, it will create a new one.

  3. Add this line to the file:

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

    This will automatically set the JAVA_HOME to the correct path for the JDK that’s installed.

  4. Press Ctrl + X to exit, and then press Y to save the changes.

  5. After that, run the following command to apply the changes:

    source ~/.bash_profile

  6. To verify if it worked, type:

    echo $JAVA_HOME

This should return the path to your JDK.

3

Since macOS Catalina (10.15) and later uses Zsh as the default shell, you’ll need to modify the .zshrc file instead of .bash_profile. Here’s what to do:

  1. Open Terminal.

  2. Type nano ~/.zshrc to open the .zshrc file in the nano editor.

  3. Add the following line to the file: export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)

  4. Press Ctrl + X, then Y to save and exit.

  5. Now, reload the .zshrc file by running: source ~/.zshrc

  6. Finally, verify the JAVA_HOME value:

echo $JAVA_HOME

It should show the path to your Java installation.

4

If you want to manually set JAVA_HOME instead of using the automatic /usr/libexec/java_home command, you can find the exact path of your JDK and set it explicitly.

  1. Find the path to your JDK:

    a. Run /usr/libexec/java_home -V in the terminal. This will list all the installed JDKs on your Mac.

    b. Find the path to the JDK you want to use (it will look something like /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-14.0.1.jdk/Contents/Home).

  2. Open your shell configuration file (like .bash_profile or .zshrc, depending on your macOS version) by running:

    nano ~/.zshrc # or nano ~/.bash_profile for older macOS versions

  3. Add this line, replacing the path with the one you got in step 1: export JAVA_HOME=“/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-14.0.1.jdk/Contents/Home”

  4. Save and exit by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y.

  5. Reload the shell configuration file: source ~/.zshrc # or source ~/.bash_profile

  6. Verify with: echo $JAVA_HOME

These should help you get JAVA_HOME set up on your Mac without issues. The first two methods are easier and more dynamic, while the third one gives you a manual approach, which could be useful if you want more control.

Let me know if you need further clarification or run into any issues!