Installing The Java Development Kit: Windows Guide

Click here for instructions for Mac

There are several steps you need to take before installing Android Studio. Some of these steps might seem very technical, and it's OK if you don't fully understand the terminology.

Make sure to follow along the instructions carefully, and post on the forums if you get stuck.

1. Check If You Have Java on Your Computer

Open the Terminal

Before you start, you will need to open a program on your computer called the Terminal. To do this, go to the Task Bar at the bottom of your computer screen, click Start, and navigate to Run…

Type cmd in the box that pops up. (Your box might look slightly different than ours, depending on what version of Windows your computer is running.)

This will open the Terminal window.

Use the Terminal to find information

Now you are ready to check if you have the Java Developer Kit, version 7 or greater, already installed on your computer.
To check if you have JDK installed (and which version), open a terminal window and type:

java -version

Then hit enter.

The example below shows Java version 8.0_05 -- the version number comes after the “1.”

(Note: As of May 2015, the most recent version was 8.0_45.)

If you have Java 7 or greater, you can move on to the next node: Install Android Studio.

If the JDK is not available, or the version is lower than 7, go on to Step 2, below.

2. Download the Java Development Kit

Download the Java Development Kit, aka, the JDK, from this page.

Oracle, the company that maintains Java, has a lot of options and acronyms. We're looking for the plain old JDK. This is the kit you need to start developing your apps with Java.

As of May 2015, the download icon for the JDK looked like this:

After you click the download link, you'll see a list of options for download. Go to the Java SE Development Kit menu of options. Do not go to the demos and samples (the menus look very similar, so make sure to read the heading at the top).

Install

You've got a lot of options here, but the two you care about are the Windows options.

If your computer is only a few years old, you're most likely going to download the 64-bit option. If your computer is a little older you can follow these instructions to double check.

I'm going to download the 64-bit option (highlighted below).

Accept the license agreement, and download it. Once you've downloaded it, go ahead and double click it to install.

3: Verify that Java is Installed

Go back to Step 1 and follow the instructions to open your Terminal and verify that you have Java version 7 or higher installed.

Do not move on with Android Studio install until after you have installed the JDK. Without a working copy of Java, the rest of the process will not work. If you can't get the download to work, look for error messages, and try googling to find a solution.