Fix Minecraft 1.19 “Unable to decompress file. Launching the game failed!”

Whenever a new major Minecraft update is released, it brings a fair share of bugs and glitches along with anticipated features. The newly released Wild Update is no different, as there are many issues that need to be addressed in version 1.19.

The official Minecraft launcher has also been causing problems and giving out errors like “Unable to decompress file. Launching the game failed!”

For PCs, Mojang Studios has a dedicated launcher for players to download Minecraft Java Edition. With the release of the 1.19 update, Mojang Studios also added Bedrock Edition to the Minecraft launcher on Windows. The official launcher rarely gets updates, but recently, there have been many changes. 

These changes might be the reason behind all the problems players have been experiencing while downloading Minecraft 1.19. In this article, we will help you fix the Unable to decompress file error in Minecraft.

What is the Unable to Decompress File error in Minecraft?

Mojang Studios has an official bug report forum where players can share their issues regarding bugs and glitches in the game. Recently, many players have reported an error while downloading the 1.19 update or latest snapshots on the Minecraft launcher. 

When downloading and launching Minecraft 1.19 update for Java Edition, players are getting the following error message: 

Launching the game failed! 
Unable to decompress file. 
Error details: no message available 
Filename on disk: jvm.dll

Because of this, many players have not been able to enjoy the Wild Update, released on June 7, 2022. Developers are already working on a fix for this issue. Meanwhile, players can use a trick to bypass this error and download Minecraft 1.19 update successfully. 

If Minecraft is not launching for you as well, then read the next section to find out how to fix the problem.

How to fix the “Launching the game failed! Unable to decompress file” error in Minecraft 1.19

If you have been facing the “Unable to decompress file” error in Minecraft 1.19, then please try the following steps to fix the error.

1. Delete all files and folders inside the .minecraft folder

Unfortunately, players will need to delete everything inside the .minecraft folder in order to fix the error.

Before deleting the .minecraft contents, be sure to create a backup of your valuable worlds. Otherwise, they will be lost forever, and you won’t be able to play in them again. Copy the backup worlds to a safe folder. 

Here’s how to go to the .minecraft folder in Windows and macOS.

Windows:

• Press the Windows + R keys to open the RUN dialog.
• Type in the following and press Enter: %appdata%
• You should see the .minecraft folder here. If not, then go to the Roaming folder and it must be there.

macOS:

• Open Finder.
• Click the Go menu from the menu bar and choose Go to Folder.
• Type in the following and press Enter. You must replace “[username]” with your computer’s username: /Users/[username]/Library/
• From the folder that opens, find and click on Application Support.
• The .minecraft folder will be found here.

2. Uninstall the Minecraft launcher

Once your world backups are in a safe place, uninstall the Minecraft launcher. Do not worry about it, as we will be installing the launcher again.

A lot of times, uninstalling and reinstalling software fixes most technical issues.

3. Make sure Java JRE is on the latest version

As evident from its title, Minecraft Java Edition was created using the Java programming language and requires the same language to run correctly.

If you have been getting the “Launching the game failed! Unable to decompress file” error, make sure Java is updated to the latest version.

Older versions of Minecraft used to run flawlessly with outdated Java. But after the Caves & Cliffs update, players will need to keep an updated version of Java JRE on their PCs. Running an outdated version will give rise to many more errors in Minecraft. 

4. Reinstall the Minecraft launcher

This Minecraft 1.19 error is related to the official Minecraft launcher. Like most software issues, installing and reinstalling the Minecraft launcher might help fix this error.

• You can download the launcher from here.
• After downloading the launcher installer, please open it and go through the installation process.
• Once the installation process is complete, open the Minecraft launcher and log in to your Minecraft or Mojang account. 

5. Download Minecraft 1.19 

Now that the launcher has been installed, you should try installing Minecraft 1.19 update again.

Download the latest version of Minecraft and let the launcher install it. Hopefully, you will not face the Launching the game failed error this time. 

Downgrade the Minecraft launcher

If you are still having issues, you can try to downgrade the Minecraft launcher to play the 1.19 update until Mojang fixes the issue. You can find the download options here.

Wrapping Up

The Unable to decompress file error has been mainly occurring in Windows 11. Nonetheless, Windows 10 and macOS users have also reported the same problem.

If your Minecraft is not working, then you can try the solutions listed in this article and it should hopefully fix the problem.

Players facing this error are highly recommended to head to bugs.mojang.com and share their experience with this error. By reporting the error, players may find some help from staff who manage the bug report forum. Minecraft not launching can be a horrible experience for any dedicated player. 

Suggested readings:

• How to fix Minecraft exit code 1
• Fix Minecraft exit code 0
• Fix Minecraft Unable to Connect to World Error
• What Does “Too Expensive!” Mean in Minecraft?