If the Launcher Not Responding started appearing recently, a reinstallation might return things to normal. Before uninstalling Minecraft, make sure to back up the worlds.

Minecraft players struggle to play Java Edition with the new Launcher causing log-in difficulties and long download times.

Some programs may need higher access in order to work properly. If your Minecraft launcher still won’t load at this point, you can give it elevated access by letting it run as Administrator.

Somewhat confusingly, there was an old launcher called 'Minecraft Unified Launcher', which was specifically for Windows 7 and 8 and only launched Java Edition and Minecraft Dungeons.

Open the Minecraft Launcher and go to the Minecraft Java Edition window in the left panel. Go to Installations, click the three horizontal dots icon (which appears when you hover your mouse over ...

Thanks to Minecraft: Java Edition's new launcher, however, reverting to alpha and beta versions is incredibly intuitive.

You'll need a Microsoft account to download Minecraft but that's no sweat to do. Choosing between the two versions, Java and ...