Use the Java plugin to view interactive content on websites
Revision Information
- Revision id: 53879
- Created:
- Creator: Wesley Branton
- Comment: Added "Java plugin does not appear in the Add-ons Manager" section (Made required changes to previous edit)
- Reviewed: Yes
- Reviewed:
- Reviewed by: AliceWyman
- Is approved? Yes
- Is current revision? No
- Ready for localization: No
Revision Source
Revision Content
Many web pages use Java applets for interactive content such as online games. Before Firefox can run Java applets you must have the Java plugin properly installed and enabled. Java is a programming language that can run on Windows, Mac, Linux, and other computer systems. This article will help you install or update Java and get it working in Firefox.
- Java is not the same thing as JavaScript (see this article for information about JavaScript).
Table of Contents
Installing or updating Java
Manual install or update
- Go to the download page at java.com.
- Click the button.
- Click the button to download the Java installer to your computer.
- After the download is complete, close Firefox.
- Open the file you downloaded to start the Java installation.
Automatic update
Java for Windows includes a Java Update feature that periodically checks for updates and notifies you when an update is available for installation.
Mac OS X 10.6 and below
Java is installed with the operating system. To update Java, use the Mac OS X Software Update feature.
Mac OS X 10.7 and above
Java is not installed by default. To install the latest version of Java, go to the download page at java.com. See the Java Help page How do I install Java for my Mac? for system requirements and installation instructions.
To update Java, go to your Apple System Preferences, click the Java icon to launch the Java Control Panel, then go to the Update tab and click on the How do I update Java for my Mac? for details.
button. See the Java Help pageSee Oracle's Manual Installation and Registration of Java Plugin for Linux article for help installing or updating Java on your Linux system.
Testing Java
To test whether Java is installed and enabled in Firefox, visit the Java test page at java.com.
When you visit this page, you may needwill normally need to activate Java. The article How to allow Java on trusted sites explains how. You may also see a Java security prompt asking you to confirm that you want to run Java. This security message is from Java, not Firefox. For more information see the Java help page What should I do when I see a security prompt from Java?.
Enabling Java
If Java is not working, make sure that the Java plugin is enabled in the Add-ons Manager tab:
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- Click on the Java (TM) Platform pluginJava Plug-in 2 for NPAPI Browsers (Mac OS 10.5 & 10.6) or Java Applet Plug-in (Mac OS 10.7 and above)Java plugin to select it.
- Click on the button (if the button says , Java is already enabled).
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- Click on the Java (TM) Platform pluginJava Applet Plug-inJava plugin to select it.
- If Java is disabled, you will see a How to allow Java on trusted sites.) button. Open its drop-down menu and select to enable Java. (If your only option is then Java has been blocked for your protection. See
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- Click on the Java (TM) Platform pluginJava Applet Plug-inJava plugin to select it.
- If Java is disabled, you will see a button. Open its drop-down menu and select the option to activate Java. The recommended (default) option is , which lets you run Java when prompted.
Troubleshooting
After enabling Java in your operating system and through your Firefox options, Java may still fail to work properly. To activate Java, try the following:
Java plugin does not appear in the Add-ons Manager
If the Java plugin does not appear in the Add-ons Manager, even though Java is installed, do the following:
- Open the Firefox profile folder
- Completely close Firefox and rename the
pluginreg.dat
file.
A newpluginreg.dat
file will be generated once you restart the browser.
Any plugins you may have disabled in the Firefox Add-ons Manager will be enabled.
More information about this step can be found here
- If Java 7 is installed, make sure that is selected in the Java Control Panel Security tab
The Java 7 plugin will only run in 64-bit browsers so confirm that you aren't running Firefox in 32-bit mode.
- Open the Applications folder in Finder
- Right-click the
- Select
- Make sure the box in front of is not checked
On 64-bit Windows, if you only have the 64-bit version of Java installed, the Java plugin will not be available since current Firefox releases are 32-bit browsers
- You'll need to install the 32-bit Java version
Mozilla browsers use plugin scanning to locate installed plugins in locations external to Firefox.
Java and other plugins in directories specified in the Windows registry for PLIDs will not be detected if the preference plugin.scan.plid.all
has been set to false.
To resolve, do the following:
- Open
about:config
- Locate the
plugin.scan.plid.all
string - Reset the value to true
- Restart Firefox
Uninstall JavaFX if installed
In some cases, after updating from an earlier Java version to Java 7 Update 10 or above, the Java (TM) Platform plugin is no longer detected. This can be caused by a conflict with Java and a standalone installation of JavaFX that prevents the Java plugin from being properly registered. To resolve the problem, uninstall JavaFX. For more information, see this java.com help page.
Remove outdated Java plugin files from the Firefox plugins folder
You may have copied Java plugins to the Firefox plugins folder in the past. Java plugin files from older versions in the Firefox plugins folder can prevent Java from working.
- Click the menu button , click and select .
- Select the Java(TM) Platform plugin and make sure that it is enabled.
- Check if the Java(TM) Platform plugin is correctly detected. For example, if Java 7 Update 45 is currently installed, the Java plugin in the Add-ons Manager tab should be listed as Java(TM) Platform SE 7 U45.
- If you find Java plugin files listed that do not match your current Java version, you may have outdated Java plugin files in the Firefox plugins folder which should be removed.
The Firefox plugins folder, if it exists, is typically in the following location:
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugins on 32-bit Windows, C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\plugins on 64-bit Windows
Other software that may block Java
Even if Java is installed and enabled in Firefox, it may be blocked by other software or Firefox add-ons, such as the following:
- The ZoneAlarm Pro software firewall can block Java. For more information on enabling Java through this program, see the ZoneAlarm Pro forum.
- The NoScript extension for Firefox will block Java. For more information, see the NoScript FAQ.
Additional resources
- The Java FAQs page at java.com answers some frequently asked questions.
Based on information from Java (mozillaZine KB)