SOLUTION!!! Finally (god this was maddening!) . Solved by sam_86314 : You need to manually set the java directory for the game. Go to System Preferences, click on "Java", go to the "Java" tab and click "View". Select and copy all of the text under "Path". Now open the Minecraft Launcher. Click "Launch options" and click on the version of the game you're trying to run. Head down to "Java executable" and turn that on. Paste the text you copied into the box. My Mac is running 10.12.3, but I think the steps are the same for all macOS versions. In my case, the path to my Java 8 installation was /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home/bin/java
Jessica Humphreys
SOLUTION!!! Finally (god this was maddening!) . Solved by sam_86314 : You need to manually set the java directory for the game. Go to System Preferences, click on "Java", go to the "Java" tab and click "View". Select and copy all of the text under "Path". Now open the Minecraft Launcher. Click "Launch options" and click on the version of the game you're trying to run. Head down to "Java executable" and turn that on. Paste the text you copied into the box. My Mac is running 10.12.3, but I think the steps are the same for all macOS versions. In my case, the path to my Java 8 installation was /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents/Home/bin/java