This page takes you from a downloaded installer to a launched world. It assumes you own Minecraft: Java Edition on a Microsoft account — the launcher does not provide the game, it runs the copy you already own.
Java Edition is the desktop version of Minecraft, sold on minecraft.net. If you own Minecraft only on a console or phone, you own Bedrock Edition, which this launcher cannot run.
Install the launcher
- Download the Windows installer from the download page. It is a single executable around 117 MB.
- Run it. Windows may show a SmartScreen prompt for a new publisher — choose More info, then Run anyway, or verify the SHA-256 on the download page first.
- The installer offers a per-user install by default, so no administrator password is needed. You can change the folder and whether a desktop shortcut is created.
- Leave Launch DonutLauncher ticked and press Finish.
Sign in
You will land in a short setup wizard. Choose the accent colour and your background preference, then pick how to sign in:
- Microsoft — the normal route. The launcher opens your browser, you sign in on Microsoft's own page, and the token comes back to the launcher. Your password is never typed into the launcher, and the launcher never sees it.
- Session ID — for people who already have a token from another launcher. Paste it and the launcher verifies it against Mojang before storing it. This kind of token cannot refresh itself, so it expires about a day later and you will be asked to paste a fresh one.
Anyone holding that token can play as you and read your profile. Never paste one into a Discord message, a support ticket or a website that asked for it.
Install a version
On the Home page, press the play button. The launcher notices there is no version yet and opens the version picker.
- Pick a version. The list opens on Releases — the versions Mojang supports — with the newest first. Snapshots and All are the other two tabs.
- Press Install. The launcher downloads the client jar, the libraries and the asset index, verifies every file against Mojang's published SHA-1 hashes, and stages the result inside this instance's own folder.
- If the version needs a Java runtime you do not have, the launcher downloads Mojang's own build of it for you. Nothing is installed system-wide.
Play
The play button is now a launch button. The first launch spends a minute loading assets; later launches start in seconds. Progress is reported in the bar under the button, and if the game exits with a crash the Logs page has the report already analysed.
Where everything lives
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Launcher settings, accounts, instances | %APPDATA%\DonutLauncher |
| One instance's mods, worlds and config | %APPDATA%\DonutLauncher\instances\<id>\minecraft |
| Shared game files, one copy for every instance | %APPDATA%\DonutLauncher\shared |
| Java runtimes the launcher manages | %APPDATA%\DonutLauncher\java |
Every one of those paths is reachable from inside the app: Manage on an instance card opens its game folder, and Settings → About shows the launcher's own data folder.
Next
- Instances — keeping separate mod setups from colliding.
- Mods — adding jars, and what happens when one is blocked.
- Malware scanner — what a score means before you run somebody else's file.