How do I check what version of Java I have installed?

Question

I want to check what version of Java is installed on my PC before installing the latest Java update. How can I do this?

Solution 1

You can check your version of Java with any of the following methods.

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Java Control Panel (Windows)

1. Open the Start Menu and select Control Panel.
2. From the Control Panel, select Programs -> Java to open the Java Control Panel.

3. Select About to view your current version of Java.

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Command Line (Windows)

1. Press ⊞ Win+R and type cmd to open the Command Prompt.

2. Type java -version and press Enter

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Control Panel (Windows)

Note: This method may give inaccurate results if Java's PATH has not been updated.

1. Open the Start Menu and select Control Panel.
2. From the Control Panel, select Programs -> Programs and Features.
3. Scroll down the list of programs until you find the most recently installed version of Java

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Terminal (MacOS)

1. In the Finder, search for Terminal and launch Terminal.app

2. Type java -version and press Enter

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Sources

• Tech FAQ - How to Check the Java Version
• Columbia - How to check what Java version you have

Solution 2

The methods below will help you to check the Java version in Linux:

• ps -ef|grep -i JAVA
• java -version
• which java

Solution 3

In windows open command prompt using cmd

Then, type the command java -version

Then, click enter. You will see your java version

Comments

[mblakesley]

These methods show different versions even on the same machine. Some say v7.0, some say v1.7...

[Aulis Ronkainen]

You're correct. However, this answer has been posted already by another user.

[dave_thompson_085]

@mblakesley: that's not a difference; see stackoverflow.com/questions/2411288/… especially the second-high-voted answer stackoverflow.com/a/2411663/2868801 . For the 'modular' versions j9 up, starting in 2017, they finally dropped the '1.' prefix.