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Running a .jar file in the command line works fine, but I am unable to execute .jar files on my PC by double-clicking them. What is interesting, the same .jar files successfully execute on my laptop with a double-click.

I included %JAVA_HOME\bin and JDK_HOME\bin in the PATH variable.
I have JAVA_HOME set to C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_121.
I have JDK_HOME   set to C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_121.

For some period of time, the Java(TM) Platform SE binary disappeared from the Open with list, and I could not add it until I changed the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jar_auto_file\shell\open\command key in regedit.exe to the appropriate version:

C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_121\bin\javaw.exe" "%1".


Here is a snapshot of Windows CMD with java -version entered on my PC:
java -version in Windows CMD


I tried the following methods, with no success:

  • reinstalling both JRE and JDK,
  • associating .jar files with C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_121\bin\javaw.exe,
  • using assoc .jar=jarfile and ftype jarfile="C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_121\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "%1" %* in command line,
  • creating a new system Environment Variable OPENDS_JAVA_ARGS and setting it to -jar.


Additional information:

  • I am using Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (Service Pack 1) with latest updates installed both on my PC and laptop.
  • Running .jar files by double-clicking them used to work on my PC, but suddently stopped working some time ago. I did not modify anything related to Java.
  • I have the newest version of both JRE and JDK (Java 8 version 121).
  • Of the .jar files I am trying to run, some are GUI Swing applications and some open the system console (if not already open) using Runtime.getRuntime().exec(String[]).


I have already tried fixing this problem with solutions on the following links (without success):


Notes:

  • I do not want to open .jar files with WinRAR.
  • I do not want to open .jar files by running java -jar jarfile.jar in cmd.exe.
  • I am not looking for a 3rd party application to run .jar files.


For now, I am using C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k "java -jar C:\path\to\jarfile\Program.jar" as a shortcut location to run jar files, but I am not satisfied with this solution as this opens the console to run even Swing applications.

I asked the same question over on stackoverflow, but it was pointed out to me that superuser is more suitable for this kind of question.

5 Answers 5

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I ran into someone who had the same problem you did today. And somehow, I managed to fix it, although I am not sure entirely what fixed it; I can only offer you the approximate series of steps I've taken.

Using regedit, I found that HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry entries weren't in agreement. HKLM had the typical .jar->jarfile setup, with jarfile pointing to the right path. HKCU had a .jar -> jar_auto_file association which pointed to an old an invalid path.

Editing this path did not fix it. I also tried pointing it to jarfile, which didn't help either. I fussed with assoc and ftype a bit to see if this might wake Windows up; I figured the anti-hijacking functionality somehow prevented Windows from listening to the updated path. Sadly, it didn't do much.

So eventually I just deleted the jar_auto_file entry. This gave me partial happiness: Windows finally realized the entry in the Open With menu was the one with a working path. (Selecting the correct path/file in the past would never stick around correctly.) Sadly doubleclicking was still broken. However, just making sure the 'Always open this type of file with this program' box was checked and opening it finally fixed the association well enough that doubleclicking actually worked again.

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  • 1
    I managed to get Java(TM) Platform SE binary in the Open with list by matching paths in HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry entries. Now .jar files are finally showing icons, but still do not work on double click.
    – bobasti
    May 23, 2017 at 12:54
  • 3
    UPDATE: I deleted .jar and jar_auto_file entries from HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Classes and it worked! .jar files are opening on double-click again!
    – bobasti
    May 23, 2017 at 13:01
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I had the issue as well. The solution is even more simple. Add the missing -jar argument.

Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jar_auto_file\shell\open\command and set the default value to:

"C:\Program Files\Java\[...]\java.exe" "-jar" "%1" 

All was missing was "-jar" option.

Enjoy!

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  • 1
    Thank you so much!! This a hard topic to find. but clearly you meant: .jar_auto_file instead of jar_auto_file on the registry path leaving: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.jar_auto_file\shell\open\command. I wasn't able to find it until I saw it.
    – White_King
    Jul 21, 2020 at 10:54
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You may have several JDKs installed in your PC. Some older JDK installers also copy some java files such as java.exe, javaw.exe into C:\Windows\System32 folder.

I had a similar issue, and searched the internet for a solution and none of the suggestions didn’t not open by double clicking the .jar file.

In my case the reason is I have multiple JDK & JRE versions installed on my computer. Since I am a software developer working with several different versions for different clients I need to use multiple JDKs in my PC (Windows 10 Pro). So I do not want to change the system variables (i.e. JAVA_HOME, JRE_HOME or PATH), instead I use command prompt to run java in user process whenever I wanted to use a different version.

When installing JDK it registers the .jar file association with latest version we installed in the PC. If you right click on the .jar icon and select properties, it will show that file opens with “Java(TM) Platform SE Binary”. If we look at the registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jarfile\shell\open\command, it will point to latest JDK version.

It is not a good idea (sometimes annoying) to change the registry key every time I want to run an app build from a different version.

So in my situation it is impossible to just double click the .jar file to execute it. But instead I found a work around solution myself.

Scenario:

Multiple JDKs (1.7, 1.8, 9.0, 10.0, 11.0, and 12.0)are installed in the PC, so the latest installed was 12.0.

Problem

Want to double click an executable .jar developed using JDK 1.8 and didn’t work

This is my work around solution:

  1. Create a shortcut for the .jar file that you want to open.
  2. Right click the shortcut icon and select properties -> Shortcut tab
  3. Change the text in the target (for example "D:\Dev\JavaApp1.8.jar") To

    "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "D:\Dev\JavaApp1.8.jar"

  4. Then click ok Double click the shortcut.

It should now open the app.

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  • The shortcut solution is the only one which worked for me.
    – klonq
    Oct 19, 2019 at 14:31
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I tried all above steps to resolve the problem but nothing worked. I had installed both JDK and JRE.

In my case, one jar file was being opened by double click while other was not being opened. I examined those files and the probable reason was that which was being opened, was created using JAVA SE 6 and the one not being opened was created using JAVA SE 7. Although, the problematic jar file was being run via command prompt (java -jar myfile.jar).

I tried Right Click -> Properties -> Change to javaw.exe with both in JDK\bin directory and JRE\bin directory.

I was finally able to fix the problem by changing javaw.exe path (from JDK\bin to JRE\bin) in registry editor.

Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\jarfile\shell\open\command, the value was,

"C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.1\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "%1" %*

I changed it to,

"C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_191\bin\javaw.exe" -jar "%1" %*

and it worked. Now the jar file can be opened by double click.

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I had the same problem using Windows 7 I tried all the solutions but nothing worked except the cmd command and after a while a discovered it all you need to do is to delete all Java JDK and SE from your computer and delete the folder that contains it and install JDK 8.

That worked for me - I tried JDK 11 and JDK 13 but only JDK 8 worked.

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