UPDATE: There’s an even simpler method now. Updated video coming soon. Subscribe to see it when it’s released.

UPDATE: If you are using the Microsoft Store version of the launcher, the file location changes to: %userprofile%//AppData//Local//Packages//Microsoft.4297127D64EC6_8wekyb3d8bbwe//LocalCache//Local//game
Paste that into your Start menu search and it should take you straight there. Then otherwise follow the instructions in the video for which file to delete or rename.

There’s a simple work-around for the Java version errors that the Minecraft launcher is giving if you don’t use the expected version of Java. Here’s how you do it. ((If you are getting a different error message, or are using the Java that comes with Minecraft, this is not the fix for you. It is also possible this will fix this error for you but you also have one or more other problems requiring separate fixes not covered in this video.))

 (( UPDATE: Launcher updates to versions 2.2.3555 and 2.2.3965 on Windows have both brought back the error. Re-applying the work-around as described in the video still works, though, and should /”fix/” it at least until the next version is pushed out. The bug is still not assigned. ))

(( UPDATE: Java 16.0.2 was recently released. As expected, no difference in behavior with it installed and the work-around not applied. The new Minecraft 1.18 Experimental Snapshot 1 and 2 releases work fine with it with the work-around applied or not. Evidently they require Java 16 as previously announced. ))

(( UPDATE: Java 17 was recently released. It too is affected, as is Java 20. ))

(( UPDATE: The bug has been marked as fixed, but I still encountered the error when launching Minecraft from the Installations view, even with the Java version check bypass box checked. The work-around described in the video still worked. Further testing is needed to determine what specific conditions still lead to the error.))

 You’ve likely run into this error if you installed Java 16 or 17 after Mojang announced that Minecraft 1.17 would require Java 16 or later, or have been trying the later Java 18, 19, or 20, especially if you’ve also used the later and greater Java version to run earlier Minecraft versions as well. Those earlier Minecraft versions run just fine with these later Java versions (I ran 1.16.5 under Java 16 all the time), but a recent update of the Minecraft Launcher has been blocking launches with Java versions it fails to recognize as compatible.

Error text…
ERROR
Launching the game failed!
Your Java Runtime is incompatible. Please edit your
installation to use the bundled Java Runtime.
Name: Java version mismatch
URL: http://aka.ms/jnierror

The bug appears to have been introduced in Minecraft Launcher version 2.2.3201, released Friday, June 18, 2021.

NOTE: The work-around described in this video will likely revert if a new version of the launcher is released before this bug is fixed. If that happens, the work-around will probably work again if re-applied.

Minecraft Bug MCL-18306 page: https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MCL-18306
You’ll find the folder paths for macOS and Linux for the jar file described in the video.
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