Fix Java was Started but Returned Exit Code=13 in Eclipse

If you are getting an error saying “Java was Started but Returned Exit Code=13” during Eclipse installation,  then there is a fix for that.  Even I faced this problem during eclipse installation on my windows operating system. After searching on google, I found that many of the users facing a similar issue with Eclipse. If you are one of them, then here is the solution for the error.

Reasons  for Java was Started but Returned Exit Code=13 Error:

Java was Started but Returned Exit Code=13 Error

Before going to the solution, let us know why it is showing that error. If you know the problem with this issue, we can easily fix that error.

Reason 1: The most common reason behind this problem is, we are trying to install different bit version-that is 64 bit or 32-bit version of the software. It may be either Eclipse or Java.

Reason 2: Configuration mistake in Eclipse.ini  file

Reason 3: Special characters ( #, !, @) in Eclipse installation directory

Reason 4: You may be using latest version of Eclipse, but you might be using  wrong version or unsupported version  of Java Virtual Machine (JVM)

Reason 5: Issue with your Environment Path Variable

The above are the main reasons causing that Exit code =13 in eclipse. Now let us know how to fix that error.

 

How to Fix – Java was Started but Returned Exit Code=13 Error in Eclipse

The Solution for Reason 1:

Check which version of operating system you are running. To check that, open windows explorer by pressing a Win+E key on your keyboard.

finding 32bit or 64 bit version windows 8 os

Now on This PC (My  Computer)  which you found on the left side, Select that and right click on the mouse. In that pop-up menu choose Properties option.  When you click that properties option you will see system properties window. In that window have a look on “System Type” option.

In that  System type, you will see 64-bit Operating System. That’s what we need to know.

Now we know which version of the operating system we are running.

After knowing operating system version, make sure you downloaded the 64-bit version of Eclipse as well as a 64-bit version of Java software.

If you downloaded 32-bit version (X86) of Java or eclipse any one of them, you will get that Exit code=13 error.

Please double check the versions which you have downloaded. Because during installation it won’t show any error regarding the incompatible version. It will install smoothly.

In my case, I have installed the 32-bit version of Java so I’m getting that error.

 

The solution for Reason 2:

Maybe you might have made a mistake in configuring Eclipse.ini file, which can be found on Eclipse directory itself.  You can check this official guide if needed.

Here the few important rules to be noted while specifying -VM option

  • The -vm option and its value (the path) must be on separate lines.
  • The value must be the full absolute or relative path to the Java executable, not just to the Java home directory.
  • The -vm option must occur before the -vmargs option since everything after -vmargs is passed directly to the JVM.

You can check the below screenshot of my working Eclipse.ini configuration.

eclipse ini file

 

The solution for Reason 3:

You have might have special characters like #, !, @  in eclipse installation directory. That is, if your eclipse installation address contains any special characters, then it shows that error. So make sure you don’t have any special characters.

Example:

Before fixing special character

C:\# IDE\eclipse 3.7\

Have you noticed that “#” character?

After fixing that special character in address

C:\IDE\eclipse 3.7\

and that solved the problem.

 

Reason 4 Solution:

Maybe you are using latest eclipse version and unsupported Java version.

check java version command windows

 

To check which version of Java you are using open command prompt by pressing a win+R key and type cmd and press Enter. Now in that console type Java -version command to know java version.

Now research whether Eclipse supports that version or not.

(or)

You can open “readme” folder in Eclipse folder and open readme_eclipse.html to see which version it supports.

(or)

I recommend you to download both Java and eclipse the latest version.

Reason 5 Solution:

For some user after removing some system variable entry on “Environment Variable” it started working.

To do that.

Search for “System Variable” and Select “Edit the System Environment Variable” option.

system variable

 

After that, choose “Advanced” tab >> Environment Variables.. >> Select “Path” >> click “Edit” and then remove the first entry. That is, “C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath;”

 

remove path variable entry

Click on the image to enlarge

 

Hope you have fixed  Java was Started but Returned Exit Code=13 Error in Eclipse by following this post. Let us know which reason causing you that error by the comment.

 

P K Arun
 

Arun is the founder of this blog and a passionate tech blogger. If you like tech, then don't forget to subscribe to this blog for tech tips, reviews, guides, and exclusive deals.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 251 comments
Aishwarya - November 3, 2014

Thanks a lot! Helpful post 🙂

Reply
    Aadi - March 16, 2017

    Thanks Arun! Very nice Article…clear and helpful
    Reason 2 was my problem and adding the -vm with path to javaw.exe solved the problem

    Reply
      Upasana - May 8, 2018

      same here.Reason 2 was my problem and adding the -vm with path to javaw.exe solved the problem

      Reply
yuli - November 4, 2014

thanks!! it helped me a lot !!!

Reply
Gabriel - November 11, 2014

This really help me.

Reply
Mirhan - November 11, 2014

Thank you for this, i wouldn’t guess my java install was 32 bit, i would even skip that step

Reply
David - November 15, 2014

Hello, Thank you. this article was excellent. problem solved

Reply
LAKSHAY - November 19, 2014

Thank you. This article really helps me

Reply
Connell - November 20, 2014

Thank you! It turns out the address for my vm (reason 2) was missing altogether :/ Dunno how on earth my eclipse worked beforehand, but this really helped

Reply
Deepak - November 24, 2014

Thanks for the informative article. Keep up with the good work.

Thanks

Reply
Mahmut - November 29, 2014

Thanks a lot …

Reply
Debabrata Patnaik - November 30, 2014

Thanks for the explanation with eclipse configuration file details. That resolved the issue. My configuration file did not have -vm and its path. After adding JDK path it worked like charm.

Regards,
Deb

Reply
Rashmi - December 3, 2014

Thanks a lot! very helpful.

Reply
Safayet - December 6, 2014

Thanks a lot! Having trouble with special character. Learned something new from your article.

Reply
Fatih - December 7, 2014

Really thank you..
After step 2 (addind -vm c:\progr… ) it has worked.
Thanks..

Reply
Rogério - December 9, 2014

Obrigado, deu certo aqui…

Reply
me - December 11, 2014

Thanks for the support, I had problem 1 but it took me one hour to figure out that I had Java 32 bit installed. Please add this to point 1):
To check if the Java version is a 64-bit one run in a prompt:
java -d64 -version
If it gives an error you probably have a 32-bit one.

Reply
Rupal - December 13, 2014

I have checked first two reasons you have given here. And they are not showing. I have just downloaded eclipse and when I run the eclipse application file from eclipse folder this error code=13 is showed.
The java version is jdk 1.7.0
Please guide me what should I do.

Reply
    ARUN KUMAR - December 13, 2014

    Hi, please read this article fully. There are 4 reasons which may cause this issue please check all those issue once.

    Reply
Erick Weil - December 15, 2014

Thank you very much for this post, my problem as solved after downloading version x64 of jre8…
i dont know why eclipse stoped to work… i think a update caused this.

Reply
Ben Douglas - December 16, 2014

Thank you very much for this post.

In my case, java 8 with latest version 25 was installed with 32 bit version. I confirmed the same by using the command :

c:\java -d64 -version

java version “1.8.0_25”
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_25-b18)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 25.25-b02, mixed mode, sharing)

posted in the comments above.

Went to the official site : http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html

and downloaded jdk-8u25-windows-x64.exe and ran the installation wizard. After this, I verified the version:

C:\>java -d64 -version
java version “1.8.0_25”
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_25-b18)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.25-b02, mixed mode)

C:\>java -d64 -version
java version “1.8.0_25”
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_25-b18)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.25-b02, mixed mode)

And Eclipse works fine! Thanks a lot!

Reply
    Ben Douglas - December 16, 2014

    I am sorry. Small correction above, I got the following before I downloaded 64 bit JAVA 8 upd 25.

    C:\>java -d64 -version
    Error: This Java instance does not support a 64-bit JVM.
    Please install the desired version.

    Reply
      ARUN KUMAR - December 16, 2014

      Thanks for taking time for explaining your problem that you have faced. I hope someone may find this useful.

      Reply
        pashupati - December 23, 2014

        Great Man!!!! Thank you from bottom of my heart. Its been killing me 2 days

        Reply
      rajesh - August 2, 2016

      thank you very much, i can check easily of java version with 32 bit or 64 bit.

      Reply
    Manuel Perez - June 11, 2016

    Excellent thanks!!

    Reply
massire1 - December 17, 2014

Thanks a lot ! The solution for reason 2 worked for me.
VERY HELPFULL !

Reply
Mukta - December 17, 2014

Thanks a lot 🙂

Reply
Saurav Bajracharya - December 18, 2014

You are a life saver!!!! 🙂
Thanks alot man!

Reply
Franchesco - December 28, 2014

Thank you very much!

Reply
Sid - December 31, 2014

Thank you. My vm path was missing…thanks for the fix!

Reply
Incognito! - December 31, 2014

I updated Java and it worked.
Thanks.

Reply
Tony - January 2, 2015

Thanks, Reason 2 was my problem and adding the -vm with path to javaw.exe solved the problem

Reply
Vijay - January 6, 2015

Thank you for the useful post!

Reply
Ramesh - January 6, 2015

Thank You So much

Reply
Rachana - January 6, 2015

This was really helpful…Issue was coming due to Reason1. Thanks!!!

Reply
Manny - January 6, 2015

Great help thanks. I had the wrong version of java installed. It downloaded the 32bit version whilst I needed the 64bit version

Reply
Alex - January 7, 2015

Thanks, helped me a lot

Reply
Yash - January 9, 2015

Thanks a lot. Can you believe that i wasted 1.5 hours on this and the reason was reason no. 3. Holy Shit, such a small error. . . Thanks for your help buddy. . 🙂

Reply
Dendi Hidayat - January 14, 2015

This morning, I updated my JAVA version to 8.25
And then I can’t run Eclipse. So, what I must do? Download JDK, JVM, or Eclipse?

Reply
Shruthi Reddy - January 20, 2015

Great work..I had issue number 2.

Reply
teja - January 22, 2015

Thank you thanks alot
this solution (Solution for Reason 2: ) worked for me. 🙂

Reply
Joms - January 23, 2015

Kudos !
Thank you so much! (Reason 2 )

Reply
Chris - January 31, 2015

You saved my Ass!!!
I thank you very much.

Reply
Cristian - February 1, 2015

Thank you so much! (Reason 2 )

thank’s from Barcelona Spain

Reply
Sam - February 2, 2015

Thank you for your information. (Reason 2 )

Reply
MADHU - February 3, 2015

Thanks for support

Reply
Adithya - February 4, 2015

Thanks a lot. Appreciate your work.

Reply
Wander - February 4, 2015

Thanks! Appreciate it.
Just to let you know: it was the reason 2.

Reply
Froggy - February 6, 2015

Super! problem found in the eclipse.ini file thanks a lot (reason 2)

Reply
Srini Cheenu - February 6, 2015

Thanks a lot.
Solution #2 works like a charm !

Reply
SJP - February 9, 2015

thanks a lot and helpful indeed.

Reply
Dinesh - February 19, 2015

Thanks a lot buddy!!!
Solution 2 works…

Reply
olaysoft - February 19, 2015

thanks

Reply
Tomal - February 20, 2015

Thanks. This is very helpful and saved my time.

Reply
Daniel - February 25, 2015

Mi Eclipse funcionaba y despues de instalar la nuevo versión de java ese error apareció, ¿que puedo hacer?

Reply
young - February 25, 2015

i have win 8 and instilling eclipse last virgin with jdk but still the problem …what can i do ..plz??

Reply
Mark - March 1, 2015

This helped a lot 😀

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Marilea - March 2, 2015

Thanks from Brazil, reason 1 and 2

Reply
João Vítor - March 6, 2015

Thanks, helpfull post!
Great Job!

Reply
ugly fag - March 15, 2015

IT WORKED AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Reply
David - March 16, 2015

Thanks Arun, the -vm addition (of case 2) solved my issue quick, clean and easy.

Reply
Saliary Röman - March 18, 2015

Solucionado.
¡Muchísimas gracias!

Reply
anupama - March 21, 2015

extremely thankful to you…!The explanation is so clear and precise…good luck

Reply
Tejal - March 23, 2015

Thank you so much … Adding the -vm entry in Eclipse.ini helped me… !!

Reply
parshuram - March 26, 2015

Thanks a lot for this information… It helped resolving my issue.

Reply
Tony - March 26, 2015

I installed Eclipse eclipse-java-luna-SR2-win32-x86_64 and the ini did not even have a -vm option but once I added it, all was good.

Reply
Taylor - March 28, 2015

+1 This fixed my problem.

Reply
adhi - March 30, 2015

Hey this worked for me. Thanks for your stuff.Keeping updating more stuffs and keep rocking…

Reply
Anand Gupta - April 3, 2015

Thanks man. It was helpful!

Reply
Harish - April 6, 2015

Recently I had a similar issue, I am on Windows 8 and have version 6 and 7 of Java of both 32 and 64 bit versions installed on my system.I was getting the same error (code 13), all I did was delete “Oracle” folder under “Program Data” folder.

Reply
Fernando Albiero - April 7, 2015

Nice! Very helpful.

Reply
Hans Furrer - April 10, 2015

Many thanks! Solved with your help.

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April - April 15, 2015

This helped. I was able to get Eclipse to work before but somehow it stopped working lately. I fixed it by adding the -vm code for the javaw.exe file in eclipse.ini.

Reply
Basil - April 16, 2015

This work for me . Thanks a lot .

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mahatma - April 16, 2015

Awesome! it’s really helfull! my problem was that I have diferet version of Java only I download a 64 and it works

Reply
Indu - April 16, 2015

Just an Update –
Please try to set javaw.exe of Jre instead of Jdk in eclipse.ini file as described below –
-vm
c:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\javaw.exe

Reply
abubkar - April 17, 2015

Thanks a lot

Reply
Sourabh - April 20, 2015

it worked for me, followed other blogs too, but this was “to the point”. thanks a lot, keep it up.

Reply
Dominik - April 22, 2015

I hope your first child be a masculine child. Thanks a lot.

Reply
Naveen Kocherla - April 23, 2015

Very helpful man, Keep it up 🙂

Reply
abdi - April 28, 2015

Thank’s amazing i’ts helpul 🙂

Reply
Nuno Palma - May 1, 2015

Thanks a lot ! The problem with me was that i was using the wrong version of Java, i changed de system variable “Path” to get the right path to Java executable and it works now.

Reply
Innocent - May 6, 2015

Thanks for the advice. After opening my eclipse.ini file I noticed that there was no vm specified, i.e. the path to my javaw.exe file. Once I edited the file my eclipse started up and I’m ready to continue reading my copy of Head First – Android Development. Thanks Arun!

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Mishal Sanghvi - May 8, 2015

Thanks..this helped. My eclipse was working fine till I updated to a newer JDK. I don’t know why the problem occured but the solution was to add the “-vm” arg and value in the eclipse.ini file.

Reply
Samuel - May 13, 2015

I was having same issue as Mishal Sanghvi.. updating a new JDK caused this. Thank you so much for you help!

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Sagnik Majumder - May 13, 2015

Thanks, it worked for me. My reason was No 2. I had to add “-vm” arg and its value in the eclipse.ini file. I guess the source of my Eclipse installation is having this issue.

Reply
DJ - May 14, 2015

Superb explanation. Crystal clear information. You dont have to visit any other website if you arrive here for Eclipse issues.

Reply
Rakesh - May 15, 2015

Its True and article was helpful. I am using the 64 bit JDK. Thanks….

Reply
Boris - May 15, 2015

Thank you so much for this useful blog. I downloaded a x64-Bit Java version and changed the eclipse.ini as you described. And it works!!!!

Cheers!

Reply
Samuel Cassiano - May 15, 2015

Muito obrigado pela ajuda!!!

Reply
Romit - May 18, 2015

thanx a lot…specifying vm in eclipse.ini file saved me… kudos to u

Reply
Alex - May 18, 2015

Thanks a lot, this is the best structured explanation regarding this error.

Reply
Masoud - May 19, 2015

Thanks, Thanks a lot .

Reply
Luís - May 21, 2015

thanks, save my day!!

Reply
Hassan Baig - May 22, 2015

Thanks a lot I’ve successfully eliminate the error code 13 by following the solution for the reason 2 very helpful !

Reply
Bhargav - May 23, 2015

Thank you Sir!

Reply
Sajid - May 24, 2015

Thank you for this help full blog. Really appreciate your work. It solved my problem.

Reply
Arun kumar S - May 26, 2015

Thanks a lot, Very useful…

Reply
Chris - May 30, 2015

Your pointer to check the version led me to realize I had installed an older version of Java in order to work on an Android project. That version took over, and Eclipse tried to use it. Specifying a more recent version of Java in the eclipse.ini did the trick.

Thanks!

Reply
Aswin - May 30, 2015

i have done with this process even though its not working … my java path is also correct even showing fatal error now …..what can i do for further process

Reply
gsd - May 31, 2015

hey my eclipse is still not working by all above steps what to do now

Reply
Momo - June 1, 2015

Thanks a lot, It solved my problem, I really appreciate your work and your blog help full
Merci beaucoup !!!

Reply
ISD - June 2, 2015

Thanks, Solution2 helped!

Reply
rd - June 4, 2015

Thank you so much. I had Java for 32 bit. Istalled for 64 bit and now eclipse is launching.

Reply
SreeSekhar Palaparthy - June 7, 2015

Solution #2 worked for me, thanks a lot. I had to just add the -vm and specify full path for the javaw.exe in the eclipse.ini file

Reply
Rohit - June 9, 2015

great post awesome point Three helped me, latest version doesnt put -vm value in eclipse.ini file

Reply
Murali - June 9, 2015

Hello,

I have been using eclipse from past 3 months with the same java configuration .

But all of a sudden i am facing this issue today. Neither of the above scenarios are helping me out.

Please suggest.
Thanks,

Reply
Marco Damaceno - June 10, 2015

Solution 2# worked out for me. Thanks!

Reply
LThy - June 10, 2015

Thanks a lot. Solution 1 worked for me

Reply
dirk - June 16, 2015

Great informations – my eclipse luna runs!

Reply
Anurag Mandilwar - June 17, 2015

Thanks a lot..Great Explanation!!
Solution #2 worked for me.

Reply
blah - June 18, 2015

Thanks, man. It seems so obvious, but sometimes I don’t pay attention.

Reply
Rubens - June 18, 2015

Soltion 2 worked out fine for me.
Thanks

Reply
Ricardo - June 25, 2015

a porcaria do #

Reply
Vikash - July 4, 2015

Thanks a lot Arun. You are a lifesaver

Reply
Ghattamaneni - July 7, 2015

Thanks a lot Arun…..good job….keep going…

Reply
Abhi - July 10, 2015

At Last your Provided Solution in Step @ 2 works out-of the BOX

after I edited and specified -vm line in eclipse.ini file , i.e. with the path to javaw.exe file.
eclipse started up immediately.

-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_51\jre\bin\javaw.exe

Reply
Hari Haran - July 14, 2015

Resolved by installing proper version of JDK with match OS .(64 bit)

Thanks for jotting it down .

Reply
Tanmay - July 15, 2015

Thanks a lot !! I was trying to add the -vm but was doing incorrectly.

Reply
Satish - July 21, 2015

Thanks for you help. Second solution worked for me.

Reply
Antúlio de Oliveira - July 26, 2015

Arun Kumar,
Thaks a lot, Guy!
My mistake was “Reason 3: Special characters ( #, !, @) in Eclipse installation directory).
I used ‘#’ in name of directory.
Thank you very much for your information!
Antulio Oliveira

Reply
Venkat - July 30, 2015

Thanks bro 🙂 Helped me a lot…

Reply
David - August 5, 2015

Thank you so much, it was a major help 🙂

Reply
Achin - August 9, 2015

Thanku Very Much its Really Worked 🙂 (Y)

Reply
heena - August 20, 2015

sir is it necessary to have the same version of operating system as well as java ?

Reply
John - September 2, 2015

Have been trying for two days to get my Eclipse Studio back on line. I followed instructions and it is now working. You are the best!

Reply
Sangam - September 2, 2015

Thank you buddy…that helped me. keep up the good work.

Reply
Kiju - September 4, 2015

So Good!!! Thanku!

Reply
pankaj - September 14, 2015

Thanks very clearly explained.

Reply
Ravindra BR - September 19, 2015

Thanks
Yes it helped, changed jvm to 64 bit on 64 bit m/c
it works

Reply
Sheetal D - September 29, 2015

Thank you so much. It worked like a charm!

Reply
Divya Nakra - September 30, 2015

Thanks
Nice explanation, for me its point no. 2.
Problem solved.

Reply
Stan - October 1, 2015

Hi,
Thanks a lot for your useful post. It helped me solved this problem for me.

Reply
Ignacio - October 2, 2015

Thanks, Java version was the mistake.

Reply
Manoj Jawalkar - October 12, 2015

This was really helpful

Reply
narendra - October 17, 2015

Hey Arun,

Thank you, this is what I exactly wanted.

Regards
Narendra.R

Reply
hengheng - November 9, 2015

holy fuck.. thanks man..

Reply
Debashish Sarkar - November 9, 2015

Thanks, you been a help!

Reply
prakash karkee - November 26, 2015

Thanks a lots. Really useful
step 1 in compatible with version

Reply
vinay - December 16, 2015

Thank u, now able to opne

Reply
Amrit - January 5, 2016

Thanks a lot man.. you saved me from frustration

Reply
Cícero - January 12, 2016

Thanks a lot! Helpful post

Reply
s - January 14, 2016

reason #2. It is working now.

Reply
Abhi - January 18, 2016

Thank you. Helpful post. Resolved issue.

Reply
Abdul Basit - January 22, 2016

In my case, the culprit was my anti-virus.
Actually, anti-virus deletes some .exe files without letting us know.

So, I disabled my anti-virus, and installed “jdk-7u80-windows-x64” (64-bit version, in my case) again. And the eclipse worked fine from then.

My suggestion for everyone would be that disable your anti-virus before installing any heavy software (like GTA-V, FarCry, Android, PhotoShop, Eclipse, Java, etc.).

Reply
Sudip - January 24, 2016

Nice Solutions, it’s really works superbly.

Reply
Nrusingha - January 27, 2016

Thanks a lot. I got the solution from the 1st pt (4 reasons for the error: Exit Code=13 ) itself.

Regards
Acharya

Reply
Vijaya Bhaskar - February 9, 2016

Solution for Reason 2: worked for me. THANKS A TON

Reply
Praveen Gullapalli - February 12, 2016

Appreciate your detailed step-by-step troubleshooting options. In my case i had to update Java from 32bit to 64bit and Eclipse started working like a charm!!

As some one suggested in their comments i ran Java -d64 -version command to confirm that i had a 32-bit version which was causing the issue.

Reply
divya - February 22, 2016

still not working..what to do ???

Reply
sheelam - March 8, 2016

thanks a lot this works

Reply
omid - March 16, 2016

thank you for your helps;
I do these 4 reasons , but still I have this error.. 🙁

Reply
suresha - March 17, 2016

Thank you very much guru,
In my case Java got upgraded and “javaw.exe” version was incorrect.
After updating Eclipse config file with below lines, eclipse stareted working fine
-vm
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.8.0_51\bin\javaw.exe

Reply
Samuel Olugbenro - March 22, 2016

Mine was caused by setting

-vm
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.7.0_45\jre\bin\javaw.exe

Instead of

vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_79\bin\javaw.exe

Reply
Manjula - March 27, 2016

Manjula N
Thank you very much,getting same error,installed wrong jdk …delete and installed new version working fine.

Reply
Ravi Mishra - April 2, 2016

Article is really helpful and resolved my issue, thanks .

Reply
dewi - April 3, 2016

Thank you! it solved my problem.

Reply
Pankaj - April 15, 2016

Awesome…for me it take hardly 5 min to resolve this issue because of above post. Thanks a Lot !!

Reply
Tatiana - April 23, 2016

Thank you!! Reason No. 2, really helpful!

Reply
fizo - April 24, 2016

Phewwww!! Finally it worked, all I had to do was download the correct JRE for my system. Thanks man!!

Reply
Padma - May 3, 2016

Thanks a lot Arun, your post was very helpful. My Luna now works again. It was like a magic as soon as I added the -vm arguments in eclipse.ini, the eclipse IDE opened.

Reply
Vitor - May 11, 2016

Thanks a lot.. Reason 2 solved my issue!

Reply
Parag - June 1, 2016

It helped me solve the problem. Thanks a ton 🙂

Reply
G2 - July 4, 2016

add below line to eclise.ini
x64 – “C:\Program Files\Java\\bin\javaw.exe”.
x32 – “C:\Program Files(x86)\Java\\bin\javaw.exe”.

Reply
AKT - July 23, 2016

You are a hero….

Reply
Sonwabile - July 26, 2016

Thanks a lot, I was using JAVA for 32 bit while I’m on 64.

Reply
none - August 1, 2016

Very helpful, solved my problem. Thanks a lot.
I switched to 32 bit eclipse, and it started OK.
The weird part is that I’m using 64 bit Windows 10 on a 64 bit 2-core hp-pavillion.
Regards.
Luis

Reply
Sanchit Khardenavis - August 24, 2016

Thanks for helping.

I have 64 bit system and 64 bit java installed. Somehow eclipse was taking 32 bit path. I installed 32 bit Java and gave -vm with 32 bit jre path. Its working now.

Reply
Marco - August 30, 2016

Works for me. Special characters in my instalation folder. Thanks

Reply
Khushboo - September 10, 2016

Thank You!! Very helpful post.

Reply
Aryan - September 15, 2016

thank u very much solution 2 is worked for me

Reply
Marshal Immanuel - September 22, 2016

Hi Arun,

Thanks for you explanation and solution for this issue.
I got this problem due to the first reason. I have installed two bit-versions of JDK.
Went through your article and resolved my issue.

Thanks again.

Reply
Ketan Savaliya - September 28, 2016

Solution 2 is working for me. Thanks for saving my time.

Reply
S. ARUL JOTHI - October 10, 2016

one more solution is:
Check the environment variables.
path: it contains c:\oracle\..\javapath (remove this)
and add the c:\prog…fil.\java\jdk(ver)\bin\

It is works for me.

Reply
    ARUN - October 10, 2016

    Thanks for adding your solution!

    Reply
Harish - October 26, 2016

It really helped me to fix the error.Thanks

Reply
Rajendra - November 10, 2016

It helped me resolving the issue. Thanks for adding this solution.

Reply
Ganesh Sonawane - December 1, 2016

Thank you for the solution. It really helped.

Reply
Nick K - December 3, 2016

Thanks! Reason 2 solved it. I don’t know how the Eclipse was running before that.

Reply
prabhu chetty - December 6, 2016

it worked, as i had 32 bit and 64 bit JRE both…good points. thanks for the post

Reply
Vineeth Sarjit - December 23, 2016

You are a life saviour , thank you sooo much , for me it was reason 2 , incorrect eclipse.ini configuration

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rajni - December 26, 2016

Thanks, Your solution #2 is worked for me. In my eclipse.ini file -vm pathname itself was not there, after adding this line with path its worked for me.

Reply
Awais Aslam - December 27, 2016

Solution 2 works for me. Thanks man

Reply
Ezhil - January 20, 2017

Thank you Arun. Solution 2 works for me. My ini file didnt have a entry with -vm and its path. i have added as per your screenshot and it started working fine.

Reply
amisha - January 21, 2017

thank u so much…its very usefull for me…

Reply
Pooja Vishwakarma - January 26, 2017

thank you so much..it really helped

Reply
snigdha - February 6, 2017

Thank you… it worked

Reply
Raj - February 27, 2017

Thanks for this post. I had incorrect version of JRE. After I installed the correct version it worked.

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Robert - March 1, 2017

I would like to add that in fact I had missing the
-vm section so I added it to the .ini file and problem solved..

-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.7.0_80\bin\javaw.exe

Reply
John Venter - March 7, 2017

Great help 🙂 Thanks

Reply
Murali - March 9, 2017

I tried installing the jee mars edition and it was missing -vm option in .ini file.
Changing it as suggested worked like a charm.

Thank you for the information. Really Appreciate it.

Reply
Sarah Carolina - March 9, 2017

Still super useful! Thank you so much! In my case it was the 1st possibility: wrong bit versions. 🙂

Reply
Phani - March 20, 2017

Thanks Arun. Solution 2 worked for me.

Reply
Siva - April 26, 2017

Thanks, Option 2 worked like a charm.

Reply
Nikitha - May 1, 2017

Thanks a lot. You are a life saver man. Solution 2 worked for me!

Reply
baba - May 10, 2017

the best article!

Reply
Madara - May 12, 2017

Thanks 🙂

Reply
Jerry - May 14, 2017

Suddenly got this same error. It was because of reason 2, my -vm was missing. Thanks for the help! 🙂

Reply
Nandini - May 30, 2017

Thanks a lot…

Reply
Vinay Joshi - July 21, 2017

such an old trick, still works like charm!! Thanks man, option 2 worked for me..

Reply
Shweta - August 28, 2017

Last point helped me, Thanks!

Reply
Bhardwaj - September 27, 2017

For me Solution 5 worked

Reply
momok - September 29, 2017

Thank you very much. My problem was in ini file, vm and jre file path was in the same line, which caused the problem.

Reply
cam - October 1, 2017

nothing worked

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Phan - October 3, 2017

Very cool! I have three problems!
Reason 1: The most common reason behind this problem is, we are trying to install different bit version-that is 64 bit or 32-bit version of the software. It maybe either Eclipse or Java.
Reason 2: Configuration mistake in Eclipse.ini file
Reason 5: Issue with your Environment Path Variable

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Sam - October 7, 2017

Reason 5 solution. Thank you!

Reply
Thomas - November 27, 2017

Solution 5 worked for me. I would not have guessed that in a million years. Thanks!

Reply
minhluong - January 16, 2018

Thanks, Reason 5 solution.

Reply
Dan - February 9, 2018

Thanks very much, reason #5 was my problem as well. Your web page is great! Thanks again.

Reply
chandra - February 12, 2018

very helpful thanks mate

Reply
sandeep - February 13, 2018

very helpful, thanks friend

Reply
Tony Sidhu - February 15, 2018

Thanks very much, reason #5 was my problem as well. Your web page is great! Thanks again.

Reply
robertneville777 - February 15, 2018

Reason 5 was my problem, and the solution worked! Thank you so much for putting up this guide!

Reply
Sachin - February 19, 2018

thanks!! it helped me a lot !!!

Reply
Ronnie - February 24, 2018

Thanks a lot. This issue occurred Just a day before we were scheduled to go live and had to do a bug fix. This post saved me. Reason 2 worked for me. But was wondering why it failed in the first place ? The current setup (Java+Eclipse) worked without a jig until now and suddenly this happened. Anyways, please back fill any information on why this happened. Thanks again and GOOD TIME 🙂

Reply
Chang - March 3, 2018

thanks!! it helped me a lot !!!

Reply
Gopal - March 7, 2018

Thanks! very helpful

Reply
Aditi - March 14, 2018

Thanks a lot. option#2 worked for me. I had my eclipse working all this while and suddenly got this error. found out that the -vm option was missing :O

Reply
Bageeradha - April 1, 2018

Thanks a lot. it helps me lot with option 1.

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RT - April 14, 2018

Another trick is to do a search for javaw.exe and add the path to your variables. Many times, you’ll need multiple versions of Java on your machine, and knowing where their path is for each program will help.

Reply
    ARUN - April 15, 2018

    Thanks for the Tip!

    Reply
Durga Pratapani - April 20, 2018

Good post that was timely help. Saved my day.
I had the issue 2 and placing -vm before -vmargs fixed the issue

Reply
mbel - May 18, 2018

Hello!
Thank you for your help!
For me, it was because of the reason 5.

Reply
Vinay - May 28, 2018

Thanks a ton!!!
IT support failed to resolve it, then I started google and got to this page. Problem #2 was the issue.

Thanks…

Reply
RRR - May 29, 2018

Thanks a lot. really a helpful post. Awesome.

I used Reason 5 Solution.

Reply
swap - June 21, 2018

Thanks a lot . Reason 2 solution helped me to resolve this issue

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Richard - June 27, 2018

Thanks, my problem was reason #1. turns out even though I got the Eclipse x64 version, I had installed the x86 version of Java JDK.

Reply
Ram - July 2, 2018

Thanks a lot. Very useful information.

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mallikarjuna - July 10, 2018

non of the above solutions worked for me

this is my ini file content

-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.201.v20161025-1711.jar
–launcher.library
C:\Users\mallikarjuna reddy\.p2\pool\plugins\org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64_1.1.401.v20161122-1740
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.java.product
–launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
–launcher.appendVmargs
-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jre-9.0.1\bin\javaw.exe
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-XX:+UseG1GC
-XX:+UseStringDeduplication
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-Xms256m
-Xmx1024m
-Declipse.p2.max.threads=10
-Doomph.update.url=http://download.eclipse.org/oomph/updates/milestone/latest
-Doomph.redirection.index.redirection=index:/->http://git.eclipse.org/c/oomph/org.eclipse.oomph.git/plain/setups/

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Dinesh - August 28, 2018

Very useful information and the issue got fixed for me by following the below

1) Mine in Windows 10 64 bit OS – X64, Eclipse downloaded is: eclipse-jee-neon-3-win32-x86_64

2) Downloaded the java 64 bit from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
Under Java SE Development Kit 8u181 -> downloaded the file jdk-8u181-windows-x64.exe

3) Keep the Eclipse folder in C drive -> Path should be C:\Eclipse

4) In Eclipse folder -> edit the file “eclipse.ini” and replace as below

-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.3.201.v20161025-1711.jar
–launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64_1.1.401.v20161122-1740
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.jee.product
–launcher.defaultAction
openFile
-showsplash
org.eclipse.platform
–launcher.defaultAction
openFile

-vm
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_181\bin\javaw.exe

–launcher.appendVmargs
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8.0_181
-XX:+UseG1GC
-XX:+UseStringDeduplication
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-Xms256m
-Xmx1024m

5) Now execute the eclipse.exe and check if it works.

So my scenario works with the combination as

64-bit OS, 64-bit JDK, 32-bit Eclipse

Thank you.

Reply
Ola - September 7, 2018

None of the above worked for me….. so sad

Below is my config file

-startup
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.5.0.v20180512-1130.jar
–launcher.library
plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.win32.win32.x86_64_1.1.700.v20180518-1200
-product
org.eclipse.epp.package.java.product
-showsplash
org.eclipse.epp.package.common
–launcher.defaultAction
openFile
–launcher.defaultAction
openFile
–launcher.appendVmargs
-vm
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_171\bin\javaw.exe
-vmargs
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-Dosgi.instance.area.default=@user.home/eclipse-workspace
-XX:+UseG1GC
-XX:+UseStringDeduplication
–add-modules=ALL-SYSTEM
-Dosgi.requiredJavaVersion=1.8
-Dosgi.dataAreaRequiresExplicitInit=true
-Xms256m
-Xmx1024m
–add-modules=ALL-SYSTEM

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    Tamoghna - February 7, 2019

    check for JDK, OS and Eclipse combination

    32-bit OS, 32-bit JDK, 32-bit Eclipse (32-bit only)
    64-bit OS, 32-bit JDK, 32-bit Eclipse
    64-bit OS, 64-bit JDK, 64-bit Eclipse (64-bit only)

    Reply
Sagar - October 8, 2018

Thanks a lot.

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Kate Brady - November 29, 2018

Thanks so much for the help! Reason 2 was my problem after downloading a new version of Java

Reply
Vinamra Sareen - December 13, 2018

Thanks so much for the help! Reason 2 was my problem

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Vikas - December 21, 2018

Thanks for the info. For me it was reason 2.

Reply
Jeroen - December 22, 2018

Reason 1 for me, apparently Java thought it’d be ok to switch to a 32 bit version on updates. You just saved me a lot of time and frustration, thanks!

Reply
Shashi - December 27, 2018

Thanks a lot. Reason 2 solved my problem.

Reply
Vijay - January 7, 2019

Hi,

I am getting this error only for standard users and not for users whom having admin rights. Please help me on this issue.

Thanks,
Vijay

Reply
Jason Marquette - January 9, 2019

Thank you! The old JAVA not in the path was my problem.

Reply
Keshav - February 1, 2019

Thank you 🙂

Reply
Tamoghna - February 7, 2019

Most of the cases its the combination between JDK, OS and eclipse.

Please flow below combination only:

32-bit OS, 32-bit JDK, 32-bit Eclipse (32-bit only)
64-bit OS, 32-bit JDK, 32-bit Eclipse
64-bit OS, 64-bit JDK, 64-bit Eclipse (64-bit only)

Reply
Monwabisi Nazo - February 7, 2019

Thank you it worked!!

Reply
Pranita - February 21, 2019

Thank you very much for the post. The STS was not getting installed because of the 5th point.Your solution worked !!!

Reply
Dharan - March 7, 2019

Thanks Arun… Adding -vm argument in eclipse.ini file fixed my issue. Earlier, it was incorrectly picking the 32bit JDK somehow…

Reply
sujeet - March 12, 2019

It failed fixexing my issue. Thanks

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Jerson - April 3, 2019

#5 worked for me. Thank you

Reply
Rakesh - October 17, 2019

Did lots of googling and spent almost 6 hours to fix this.

The solution for Reason 3, worked for me.

Eclipse installation direcroty name was containing # character

Thanks

Reply
Kueck - February 24, 2020

love you! thanks a lot

Reply
kwin - June 23, 2020

just PERFECT!

Reply

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