I hate saying ‘Java …JDK’ as the J stands for Java, but until then I guess that’s how I’ll keep saying it. Download and Install an Oracle Java 8 or 11 JDK If you don’t like the answers you get back, you’re going to need to install Java. Or you can ask your machine to tell you what the current Java Home is… /usr/libexec/java_home …which asks Java to tell you what version it is.

So the first thing I like to see is if my machine already has Java. Either the JDK was removed and replaced with a JRE, or maybe you ended up with Java 9 or 10 on your machine, which won’t work at all with SQL Developer. It usually boils down to SQL Developer not being able to find and use the proper JDK. This usually happens as folks get new hardware or as updates are applied to their machines…something quits working. I have ran into a few issues getting SQL Developer version X.Y.Z on my Mac Mini, and I’ve seen a few questions online today now that Big Sur is available. Updated Decem– after some reports from folks having issues on Big Sur, I added some additional details around troubleshooting.

Download java for mac from oracle