Download SQL Developer for Mac

mac download Which macOS build to download

Oracle’s download page lists one macOS build of Oracle SQL Developer, for Apple silicon (aarch64), and it includes JDK 17. That changed with release 26.2 — older guides, including earlier versions of this page, told you to install Java separately first. For an M-series Mac you no longer need to.

macOS

Apple silicon

Ships as a .app inside a zip, with Java already bundled.

v26.2 424 MB JDK 17 included

On Oracle’s page, choose the macos-aarch64.app.zip file.

Open Oracle’s download page → to get macOS — Apple silicon

mac jdk Which JDK to install on macOS

The current macOS download bundles JDK 17, so most people can skip this section entirely. You still need your own JDK in two cases: you are running an older release that predates the bundled build, or you want Oracle SQL Developer to use a specific JDK you already manage. On Apple silicon — M1, M2, M3 and M4 — install an Arm-native aarch64 build. An Intel x64 JDK will still run under Rosetta 2, but you pay a translation cost on every query and every redraw for no benefit.

To see what you already have, run /usr/libexec/java_home -V in Terminal. It lists every JDK macOS knows about, with version and path. If it prints nothing, you have no JDK yet and SQL Developer will not start.

• Homebrew, quickest: brew install --cask temurin@17 puts an Arm-native JDK straight into the system location, where macOS can find it. Temurin is the free OpenJDK build from Adoptium.
• Oracle JDK: download the macOS Arm64 DMG from Oracle and run the installer.
• Intel Macs: Oracle’s current page lists only an Apple silicon build. On an Intel Mac you need an older release from Oracle’s previous-release archive, plus your own x64 JDK 17+.

mac install Running SQL Developer on macOS

1. Nothing to install first — the current macOS build bundles JDK 17.
2. Download the macOS zip from Oracle and unzip it.
3. Move the SQLDeveloper app to your Applications folder.
4. The first time, right-click the app and choose Open to clear the Gatekeeper “unidentified developer” warning.
5. If asked, point it at your JDK’s home directory.

mac gatekeeper Clearing the Gatekeeper warning

macOS blocks Oracle SQL Developer the first time because the zip is not notarised by Apple. That is normal for this particular download and not a sign anything is wrong — but only work around it if you fetched the file from oracle.com yourself.

• “cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified”: right-click — or Control-click — the app and choose Open, then confirm. Double-clicking will not offer this; the right-click menu is what unlocks it, and you only do it once.
• “is damaged and can’t be opened”: macOS has quarantined the whole folder. Clear the flag with xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/SQLDeveloper.app.
• Nothing happens at all: open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down — there is usually an “Open Anyway” button waiting there after a blocked attempt.

mac pin jdk Pointing SQL Developer at a specific JDK

Oracle SQL Developer asks for a Java path on first launch and then remembers it. If you later upgrade or remove that JDK, the app breaks — and the setting is not exposed anywhere in the preferences dialog, which makes it hard to find in a hurry.

It lives in ~/.sqldeveloper/<version>/product.conf. Open that file in any editor and set SetJavaHome /path/to/jdk/Contents/Home — on macOS the path must end in Contents/Home, which is the part people most often leave off. Delete the line entirely and SQL Developer asks again on the next start, which is the fastest way to recover from a wrong path.

mac troubleshooting Common macOS problems

• The icon bounces once and quits: nearly always Java, not Oracle SQL Developer itself. Either the JDK is older than 17, or it is an x64 build on Apple silicon with no Rosetta installed. Check with /usr/libexec/java_home -V.
• “Unable to find a Java Virtual Machine”: the stored path points at a JDK that is no longer there — fix SetJavaHome in product.conf, or delete the line to be prompted again.
• First launch takes a long time: expected. SQL Developer unpacks and indexes its extensions on the first run only; later starts are much faster.
• Homebrew JDK is invisible: you installed openjdk@17 rather than the cask. See the linking note above.

mac verify Check the download is genuine

Oracle publishes a SHA-1 hash for the file. Comparing it against what landed on your disk confirms two things at once: that the download completed intact, and that it is the file Oracle published rather than something a network in between handed you.

• macOS: shasum -a 1 <file>

Run the command, compare the output to the value above, and you are done — the check takes seconds and is worth it on a download this size. If they differ, delete the file and download Oracle SQL Developer again rather than running it. You never need an Oracle account to download it; see our note on that.

mac settings Where settings live, and how to remove it

There is no installer and no package receipt, so there is nothing to run in the usual uninstall sense. Everything Oracle SQL Developer creates sits in exactly two places.

• The application: wherever you dragged it, normally /Applications/SQLDeveloper.app.
• Your settings and saved connections: ~/.sqldeveloper/, with one folder per version.

Delete both to remove it completely. To upgrade instead, delete only the app and install the newer version — leaving ~/.sqldeveloper/ alone means the new release offers to import your connections from the previous version folder the first time it starts.