I don’t yearn for the days where Java was required software on every computer. So, imagine my dismay when it was suggested that I install Java just to install tools like Forge or Fabric for Minecraft. Fear not, as there’s an easy way out of this mess. Minecraft comes with a Java Runtime built-in, which you can use to run Forge or Fabric’s JAR installers. It’s located in the Minecraft Launcher’s install directory under runtime -> java-runtime-beta -> windows-x64 -> java-runtime-beta -> bin -> java.exe. Simply open a PowerShell terminal in this directory and run

./java.exe -jar <path-to-installer-jar-file>

Short, sweet, and bloat free.