Minecraft – After installing Minecraft, I cannot figure out how to start the game

minecraft-java-edition

I installed Minecraft 1.7.2 and after installation it showed the launcher, and I played the game successfully.

But after I closed it, I realized there's no shortcut for Minecraft on the desktop, and when I go to my .minecraft folder and try to run anything there (such as launcher.jar, or 1.7.2.jar) none will open and nothing happens.

How do I start Minecraft?

Best Answer

Minecraft does not "install" like a usual program (in fact, Minecraft.exe is not an installer). When started, it creates and uses a folder for itself (.minecraft), which contains the *.jar executables and assets, but it doesn't create a new launcher executable that is registered in the OS somewhere.

Minecraft is launched through the Minecraft.exe file you originally downloaded (and is probably in a Downloads folder somewhere, or whatever you picked as the download directory), which then runs the .minecraft/launcher.jar archive in java.

I recommend moving (and, if necessary, downloading again) the Minecraft.exe to a "safe" directory (say, making a new Program Data/Mojang/Minecraft directory and placing it there, or moving it to the .minecraft directory itself) and then making a shortcut to it on the Desktop. Minecraft will not do this on its own, as I described above.

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