How to Download and Install Eclipse

Mars on Windows
2 minute read

What is Eclipse?
Eclipse is an integrated development environment (IDE). Its primary use is for developing
Java applications. But other programming languages are also supported.

The initial Eclipse codebase originated from IBM VisualAge. Today it is free and open-
source software maintained by the Eclipse Foundation.

Step #1: Prerequisites

Eclipse requires Java to run. Let’s check if you have Java installed on your system.

Click on the Windows button. Then type “cmd” in the search box.

Click on the cmd shortcut.

Wait for the command prompt to open.

Type “java -version” and press ENTER.

The above command prints the installed Java version.

It also prints the whether you have the 32 or 64-bit version of Java.

Take note of this as you will need it in the next step.

If you do not have Java installed on your system. Check following post which details how to
install a Java Development Kit on Windows 10.

Step #2: Download

Head over to the Eclipse Mars 2 Packages download page.

We will download the Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers package.

Click on your Windows version. This needs to match with the Java version installed on your
system!

In this guide, we will install the 64-bit version.

Wait for the download to complete.

Do you want to skip the above steps? Here is a direct link to download the 32 Bit or 64
Bit package for Windows.

Step #3: Install

Open the location of the downloaded package.

Right-click the ZIP archive file. Select Extract All….

Select an extract destination for the Eclipse Mars files.

In this example, we extract in C:\Users\Downlinko\tools\eclipse\mars.

Click on Extract. This extracts all Eclipse Mars files

under C:\Users\Downlinko\tools\eclipse\mars.
From now on we refer to this location as [ECLIPSE_MARS_INSTALL_DIR].

Step #4: Run

To run Eclipse Mars navigate to the [ECLIPSE_MARS_INSTALL_DIR] installation directory.

Located the Application file called eclipse and double-click on it.

On Windows 10 a pop-up window will appear: The app you're trying to install isn't a
verified app from the Store

Click on Install anyway.

Eclipse will start and prompt for a default workspace location.

If needed change the default location and click OK.

Wait for Eclipse Mars to open.

To verify the installed version click on Help and then on About Eclipse as shown below.
This shows the Eclipse version: Mars.2 Release (4.5.2).