Is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file vscode

‘javac’ is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. in VS Code, using Code Runner extension

I am trying to run some java code in VS Code with the Code Runner extension, but i keep getting this:

'javac' is not recognized as an internal or external command,

operable program or batch file.

I checked all the paths and updated the path in VS Code, but it did nothing.

Answer

Assume you are on the Windows System.

First, you might want to add your jdk path to window system environment.

Then, open your VS Code, and go to User Settings located under File -> Preferences -> User Settings.

Add jdk PATH in your VS Code as the following shows.

Important Step: after all above steps are done, you might want to restart the VS Code to let change go in effect.

To test if it works, open Integrated Terminal in VS Code under View (or type Ctrl + ` (this key is located next to number 1) Once the terminal shows up and is initialized, type javac to verify VS Code recognize the command.

It needs to be setup so that Code is found in your PATH. If you're on a mac system, do the following (for windows systems, read below):

1. Launch VS Code
2. Open up command palette (press F1) and type shell command to find Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command.
3. Restart terminal

If you're on Windows, you can also set the PATH manually by adding:

to your PATH environment variable.

1. Open command prompt
2. type setx path "%path%;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft VS Code\bin"
3. Restart terminal

Update: If you're on Windows 10 and VSCode 1.47.2 and above, the new PATH has to be set to:

For me it was due to not running cmd as an administrator. (Right click Command Prompt -> Run as Administrator)

if using Windows:

1. Press the "Windows"-button
2. Type "Visual Studio Code"
3. Right click on "VS Code" (or "Visual Studio Code")
4. Click on "Open file location"

You will then be directed to a folder, where either the VS Code program is or a VS Code shortcut is.

If it is the shortcut, then right click on it and again press "Open file location". Copy the path:

which in my situation will be: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code"

And then do as Chawki posted - paste it into your "Environmnet variables" under "Path".

This is just to show, that the two above might not be the solution for you (they weren't for me).

Should this still not work for some reason then try restarting the terminal and/or add "/bin" to the path you have added inside your environment variable.

Last Updated - Sat Jan 09 2021

A quick search around the web led me to believe the node executable was not in my PATH. Sure enough it was missing. Once I added node to my path I had to restart visual studio and sure enough everything worked again.

• Open Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Environment Variables
• In "User variables" or "System variables" find variable PATH and add node.js folder path as value. Usually it is C:\Program Files odejs;. If variable doesn't exists, create it.
• Restart your IDE or computer.

In case you are wondering the node executable should be in your C:\Program Files\nodejs folder.

In case you needed to check your PATH you can view it by right clicking the Computer in File Explorer or from the security settings in Control Panel. Once there select Advanced System Settings. A dialog will open with the Advanced tab selected. At the bottom is a button, Environment Variables.

Tapping it will open the variables dialog, which should have your system's PATH variable. Make sure the node path is added, if not added it.

After doing this restart Visual Studio or open a fresh command prompt. From the command prompt type 'node -v' to echo the node version installed.

You can also add the path to node or any other application directly on the command line. Open up a command line console as an administrator and type the following (assuming this is your path to node).

You should also check to make sure npm and Git are part of your system PATH. If not add them to your Paths as variable, separated by semicolon.

I wish I knew how node was removed from my path, but I guess that is left for another day. I hope this helps you out. Feel free to leave a comment if you have more advice to share.