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How To Fix The "Couldn't Find Minecraft 1.12/1.8" Error

If you have tried to install the Wurst 6 Client and encountered the error message Couldn't find Minecraft 1.x at: (…) Please download Minecraft 1.x through the launcher and try again, you are not alone. This error message usually appears when you try to use the Wurst 6 installer without having the corresponding Minecraft version installed. Don't worry, this is a common issue that can be easily fixed. In this article, we will guide you through the steps to resolve this error and get you back to using the Wurst Client in no time.

Understanding The Error Message

This error occurs when you try to use the Wurst 6 installer without having the corresponding Minecraft version installed on your system. It is crucial to have the exact version specified in the error message installed to resolve this issue. The most common variations of this error message are for Minecraft 1.12 or 1.8, but it's also possible to get this error with Minecraft 1.11, 1.10, 1.9, and 1.7.2. The error message will look something like this:

A screenshot of the error message "Couldn't find Minecraft 1.12 at: C:\Users\Alexander\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft\versions\1.12\1.12.jar Please download Minecraft 1.12 through the launcher and try again."

Avoiding Common Beginner Mistakes

Many people tend to make a common beginner mistake by installing a slightly newer Minecraft version than the error message says, for example, Minecraft 1.12.2 instead of 1.12 or 1.8.9 instead of 1.8. This will not work. Because of the way the Wurst 6 installer works, it can only use one specific version of Minecraft during the installation process. That's why it's important to pay attention to the exact version number in the error message and select the correct version in the Minecraft launcher.

Here is a table that shows the correct Minecraft versions to use when installing each Wurst version, as well as similar looking versions that the installer will not accept:

Wurst VersionCorrect Minecraft VersionIncorrect Minecraft Versions
Wurst MC 1.121.121.12.1, 1.12.2
Wurst MC 1.111.111.11.1, 1.11.2
Wurst MC 1.101.101.10.1, 1.10.2
Wurst MC 1.91.91.9.1, 1.9.2, 1.9.3, 1.9.4
Wurst MC 1.81.81.8.1, 1.8.2, 1.8.3, 1.8.4, 1.8.5, 1.8.6, 1.8.7, 1.8.8, 1.8.9
Wurst MC 1.7.21.7.21.7.3, 1.7.4, 1.7.5, 1.7.6, 1.7.7, 1.7.8, 1.7.9, 1.7.10

Compatibility with Server Versions

After seeing how picky the Wurst 6 installer can be during the installation process, you might think that it's impossible to use Wurst 6 on a server that is running a slightly different Minecraft version. However, this is not the case at all! Wurst 6 works with a wide range of server versions.

Downloading the version specified in the error message does not limit you to playing on servers with that exact version. For example, Wurst MC 1.12 works with all Minecraft 1.12 to 1.12.2 servers, while Wurst MC 1.8 is compatible with all Minecraft 1.8 to 1.8.9 servers, etc. So don't worry about server compatibility. It is only the installer that is picky.

Steps To Fix The Error

The easiest way to fix this error is to download the correct Minecraft version through the official Minecraft launcher. If you are using MultiMC or one of its forks, you can also use those launchers to download the correct Minecraft version. However, this is significantly more complicated because the Wurst 6 installer doesn't understand MultiMC's native folder structure. This means that you will have to manually move the Minecraft version that you download through MultiMC to a location that the installer can understand. Skip to the section titled “Using MultiMC/PolyMC/Prism Launcher” below to learn how to do this.

Using The Official Minecraft Launcher

Step 1: Open the Minecraft launcher, select the “Installations” tab and then press “New”.

A screenshot of the Minecraft launcher. An arrow labeled "1." points to the "Installations" tab. An arrow labeled "2." points to the "New..." button inside that tab.

Step 2: Now that you are in the “Create new installation” screen, set the “VERSION” field to the exact Minecraft version that you saw in the error message. Then save the profile by clicking “Create”.

IMPORTANT: Select exactly the same version that is specified in the error message! If you don't remember which version it was, please refer to the table above.

A screenshot of the "Create new installation" screen in the Minecraft launcher. An arrow labeled "1." points to the "VERSION" dropdown menu, where "release 1.12" is selected. An arrow labeled "2." points to the "Create" button. All other fields are left at their default values.

Step 3: Launch your new installation by clicking “Play”. This is what will start the download.

A screenshot of the Minecraft launcher. A profile named "<unnamed installation>" for Minecraft 1.12 is selected. An arrow points to the "Play" button next to this profile.

Step 4: If you are prompted with a “safety warning”, you can safely ignore that nonsense and just click the “Play” button again. These so-called “player safety features” are parental controls, which allow your parents to lock you out of the game. They do not increase your safety in any way whatsoever. You now understand the non-existent “risks” and can check that box to get rid of the warning.

A screenshot of Minecraft's annoying player safety warning. It reads "You are about to play a version of Minecraft: Java Edition that does not support the latest player safety features. To access these features, please update to the latest version of Minecraft: Java Edition. Read more about player safety features." An arrow labeled "1." points to the checkbox that says "I understand the risks. Don't warn me again about this installation." An arrow labeled "2." points to the "Play" button.

Step 5: You are now downloading Minecraft through the launcher. Once the download is complete, feel free to close Minecraft and delete your “<unnamed installation>”. You won't need it anymore.

A screenshot of the Minecraft launcher. An arrow points to the progress bar at the bottom, which says "Downloading 10.81 MB of 16.87 MB". The unnamed 1.12 installation is still visible in the "Installations" tab.

Step 6: Now, simply run the Wurst installer again. This time, it should have no trouble finding the Minecraft version that you just downloaded.

A screenshot of the Wurst 6 installer saying "Wurst MC 1.11 has been successfully installed". Yes, I know this doesn't match the 1.12 version that we've been using so far in the other screenshots. I just couldn't be bothered to take this screenshot again.

Using MultiMC/PolyMC/Prism Launcher

Since PolyMC and Prism Launcher are forks of MultiMC, the steps to fix this error are the same for all of them. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to all of these launchers as “MultiMC” in this section.

Step 1: Open MultiMC and press “Add Instance”.

A screenshot of the MultiMC launcher, with an arrow pointing at the 'Add Instance' button

Step 2: From the “Vanilla” tab, select the exact Minecraft version that you saw in the error message. If you don't remember which version it was, please refer to the table above.

A screenshot of a newly created MultiMC instance with the Minecraft version set to 'Vanilla 1.12'

Step 3: Launch this instance once to ensure that the files are downloaded. You can close Minecraft as soon as you get to the main menu.

A screenshot of MultiMC downloading the required files for Minecraft 1.12

Step 4: Open the main MultiMC folder. You can do this by clicking on Folders > View Central Mods Folder and then going up one level.

A screenshot of the MultiMC launcher, with an arrow pointing at the 'View Central Mods Folder' button

Step 5: From here, navigate to libraries > com > mojang > minecraft. You should see a folder named after the Minecraft version that you downloaded. For example, if you downloaded Minecraft 1.12, you should see a folder named “1.12”.

A screenshot of the main MultiMC folder, with an arrow pointing at the 'libraries' folder

Step 6: Create a temporary folder (for example on your desktop) and another folder named “versions” inside of that. Copy the folder named after your Minecraft version into the “versions” folder.

A screenshot of two different folders. At the top is 'MultiMC/libraries/com/mojang/minecraft'. At the bottom is 'Desktop/New folder/versions'. Both of them have a folder named '1.12' inside of them. An arrow points from the '1.12' folder at the top to the '1.12' folder at the bottom.

Step 7: Open the folder named after your Minecraft version inside of the “versions” folder. You should see a file named “minecraft[version]-client.jar”. Rename this file to just the version number, for example “1.12.jar”.

A screenshot of the temporary 'Desktop/New folder/versions/1.12' folder. Inside is a file named '1.12.jar'.

Step 8: Open the Wurst 6 installer again and change the “.minecraft folder” option to the temporary folder that you created in step 6. You should now be able to install/extract Wurst 6 without any problems.

A screenshot of the Wurst 6 installer with an arrow pointing at the '.minecraft folder' setting, which has been changed to 'Desktop/New folder'

Conclusion

I hope that this article has helped you to defeat the Couldn't find Minecraft 1.x at: (…) Please download Minecraft 1.x through the launcher and try again error message and finally get Wurst 6 installed. By following these steps, you should now be able to enjoy the Wurst Client without any issues.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. If you do, please make sure to include your Minecraft version, Wurst version and the exact error message that you are getting. That way, I can help you more quickly.

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