[Solved] Error: Could not find or load main class

I have already shared the common problem java beginners face i.e illegal start of expression error. You can not find these kind of errors in java books. The only way to familiarize yourself about the most common errors by using active java development. Today we will look into another common problem for java beginners,i.e  how to fix "error: could not find or load main class" error in java. As the name suggest,this error occurs when java is not able to find the class you are trying to execute. To better understand the error you should be familiar with CLASSPATH. If you are not familiar with CLASSPATH then  please check this out  what is CLASSPATH and how it differs from PATH.

Read Also:  Difference between PATH and CLASSPATH

"Could not find or load main class : XXX"  where the class name is XXX occurs if the CLASSPATH environment variable where java looks for all class files, does not found the class.

[Fixed] Error : Could not find or load main class

1. Calling  .class file from java command

public class HelloWorld {

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        System.out.println(" You have just run HelloWorld !");       
    }
}

Suppose I have a simple HelloWorld java program. If I will compile it using command

javac HelloWorld.java

then  HelloWorld.class file is created.

You will get the Error : Could not find or load main class if  you try to run .class file using java command as shown below:

java HelloWorld.class

instead you should try

java HelloWorld

Yayy!! your problem is resolved.

You have just run HelloWorld !

2. If your casing incorrect 

After compiling the code , you run the following command

java helloworld

then also "Could not find or load main class helloworld" error appears. Make sure casing is correct. In our program it should be HelloWorld ( where 'H' of hello and 'W' of world is in uppercase).

java HelloWorld

Yayy ! It will work fine and print

You have just run HelloWorld !

3. Class in a package 

In the below example I have a HelloWorld class inside the com.javahungry package.

package com.javahungry;
/**
 * Java program to demonstrate 
 * Error :Could not find or load main class
 * 
 * @author Subham Mittal
 */
public class HelloWorld {

    public static void main(String args[]) {
        System.out.println(" You have just run HelloWorld !");       
    }
}

If you try to call

java HelloWorld

It will result in Error : Could not find or load main class HelloWorld. The error occurs because it must be called with its fully qualified name.  To be clear, the name of this class is not HelloWorld, It's com.javahungry.HelloWorld . Attempting to execute HelloWorld does not work, because no class having that name exists. Not on the current classpath anyway.

java  com.javahungry.HelloWorld

Above command will also result in Error : Could not find or load main class HelloWorld because CLASSPATH environment variable is not set. I do not use -classpath or -cp command to suggest the path. By default java is searching the class file in the default directory. 

java -cp . com.javahungry.HelloWorld

If your classpath is correct then above command will run the HelloWorld program. Otherwise, It will also result in Error : Could not find or load main class HelloWorld because -cp . command make sure the JVM looks for the class file in  the current directory.

Follow below steps if error persist.

You must ensure that the location of the .class file is added in the CLASSPATH. Suppose if "/Users/SubhamMittal/Desktop/" is on the classpath and JVM looks for the class called "com.javahungry.HelloWorld", it will look for the .class file in the following path:

"/Users/SubhamMittal/Desktop/com/javahungry/HelloWorld"

java -cp  /Users/SubhamMittal/Desktop/  com.javahungry.HelloWorld

 Yayy ! It will print

 You have just run HelloWorld !

The above example is performed on Mac OS.

4. Class in a Package for Windows OS 

Suppose My java class i.e HelloWorld (given above)  after compilation is in the below path

D:\project\com\javahungry\

 
The full name of the HelloWorld class is

com.javahungry.HelloWorld

so use cd .. back command to reach to the main directory 

D:\project

 Then issue the java command

java com.javahungry.HelloWorld

 Yayy ! The program ran successfully without setting any classpath. It is because java is looking for  the current directory denoted by .(dot) and able to locate the .\com\javahungry\HelloWorld.class .

It will print

 You have just run HelloWorld !

5. Setting  CLASSPATH to current directory

if .class file in the current folder then set  .   to your CLASSPATH (note in Windows the CLASSPATH separator is semi colon ; while in Linux the separator is colon :).
You can set the CLASSPATH  in Windows :

set CLASSPATH = %CLASSPATH%;.

 (note . added at last for current directory)

You can set the CLASSPATH in Linux :

export CLASSPATH = ${CLASSPATH}:.

 (note . added at last for current directory)


If you are using java 1.5 or 1.6 , instead of getting error : could not find or load main class you will get Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError : HelloWorld. Since jdk 1.7 we started receiving this new error. The good news, Solution is exactly same.

If you are not able to solve the problem by using above steps then please mention in the comments.