How to Play & Download Older Versions of Minecraft

Going back to older versions of Minecraft is a great way to play classic modpacks, join a server running a previous update, or revisit Beta and Alpha worlds. You can download and launch almost any older release directly inside the official Minecraft Launcher, and you can also change your Minecraft server to an older version so friends can join.

How to Play Older Versions of Minecraft (Java Edition)

Follow these steps in the official launcher to download and play old Minecraft versions:

1. Open the Minecraft Launcher.

2. Click Settings in the bottom-left corner, then check Show historical versions of Minecraft: Java Edition in the Launcher if you want to play classic Alpha or Beta versions.

   

3. Select Minecraft: Java Edition in the left sidebar and click the Installations tab at the top.

   

4. Click New Installation, choose a name for the profile, and open the Version dropdown to select the older version of Minecraft you want to download (such as release 1.20.1, release 1.16.5, release 1.12.2, release 1.8.9, or an older old_beta / old_alpha build).

   

5. (Recommended) Under Game Directory, click Browse and pick a separate folder for this older version so it does not overwrite options.txt or accidentally open your modern worlds in an older release.

6. Click Create, then hover over your new installation and click Play to download and launch the older version of Minecraft.