Java Runtime version 1.6 (aka Java 6) or later is required for jEdit 4.4 and later.
Java Runtime version 1.7 (aka Java 7) or later is required for jEdit 5.2 and later.
Java Runtime version 1.8 (aka Java 8) or later is required for jEdit 5.4 and later.
Java Runtime version 11 (aka Java 11) or later is required for jEdit 5.6 and later.
Before installing jEdit, make sure you have a compatible Java virtual machine; see the compatibility page for details.

Option 1 - manual download and install on any OS

Note: the above links are not to the files themselves, but rather to pages where you can select a download mirror. Do not use your browser's "Download Link" command on the above links.

Installation instructions are available for the following operating systems:

• Mac OS
• OS/2
• Unix / Linux
• VMS
• Windows

Once you've downloaded the Mac OS X package, open jEdit.dmg. When the jEdit drive image appears on your desktop, copy the jEdit folder on it to your Applications folder (or wherever you'd like install it).

Simply run the jEdit application in the jEdit folder, and code away...

Beware: From 10.8 on your Mac will tell you that jEdit is damaged and you should move it to the trash. This is not true though. This is a new security feature called Gatekeeper that only allows apps from App Store or signed by a certificate issued by Apple for 100 USD per year. To allow jEdit to run, either lower your security settings in "System Preferences -> Security" and allow all apps to run, or Ctrl+click or right-click jEdit.app and choose "Open". As soon as jEdit was run once, Mac OS forgets about its downloaded state and allows it to run normally.

To start the java installer for jEdit, enter the following in Terminal:

cd directory where you downloaded the JAR file
java -jar filename.jar

For example, if you downloaded jedit40install.jar into ~/Documents, you would enter:

cd ~/Documents
java  -jar jedit40install.jar

If for whatever reason you want to start the installer in text-only mode, specify text as the last parameter on the command line. In text only mode, the installer will not display it's GUI, and instead it will ask questions in the terminal window.

Once jEdit is installed, type the following in Terminal to start jEdit:

java -jar /where you installed jEdit/jedit.jar

For example, if you installed jEdit in /Applications/jEdit, you would enter:

java -jar /Applications/jEdit/jedit.jar

• FreeBSD users can find install jEdit from the ports collection by running:

  cd /usr/ports/editors/jedit
  make install

• Gentoo Linux users can install jEdit from the portage tree by running emerge jedit.
• To install jEdit via Debian Linux apt-get (this is also for any Debian based Distros like Ubuntu), add the following line to your /etc/apt/sources.list:

  deb https://<mirror>.dl.sourceforge.net/project/jedit /
  

  e. g.

  deb https://freefr.dl.sourceforge.net/project/jedit /
  

  Then, just run apt-get update, followed by apt-get install jedit.

  The repository is now also secured and signed. To verify the packages you have to install the public key with which the repository is signed. This can be done by invoking apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys E6A233DBE3AFBEFC

  If you prefer manual installation of .deb files you can also download the Debian package manually.

• If you use apt4rpm, urpmi, or a similar tool with an RPM-based Linux distribution, you can automatically stay up to date with the latest version of jEdit using the JPackage RPM repository.

Problems?