How to Change Minecraft Skin

The default in-game Minecraft skins, called Steve (male) and Alex (female), tend to get boring after a while. Or, at least to those who play Minecraft in third-person perspective, since only the hands are visible in the first-person mode. Luckily, Mojang doesn’t have an issue with changing the character player model appearance, as long as it isn’t offensive. They even encourage players to do so, since creators can earn real money, and Mojang takes a percentage. With that out of the way, let’s jump straight into how to change Minecraft skin.

1. Change Minecraft via Character creator (Bedrock Edition only)

We’re starting with the easiest way of changing Minecraft skins. It’s exclusive to Bedrock Edition and is popularly named Character creator. This feature allows you to tweak specific details about your body and facial features and style. You can access this menu in this way:

1. Launch the game.
2. Now, depending on the game version, do this:
   1. Desktop: Click the Profile button on the right-hand side below your player model. Click on the Edit Character button.
   2. Console: Select Help & Options (Skins on some Xbox versions), then select Change Skin.
   3. Pocket Edition: Tap the coat hanger icon in the bottom right corner.
3. You can now browse a wide array of skins by selecting tabs at the top, browsing the current event skins below, or selecting Get More.

Although you can obtain a limited number of skins through achievements or for free, the vast majority come at a cost. They’re community creations with a price in Minecoins or Tokens (on PlayStation) on the Marketplace.

2. Alter Minecraft skin via skin packs (Bedrock Edition only)

The method above allows for altering individual parts of the character’s body or clothing. But when you open the Character creator menu, you’ll see a section named “Featured & Recommended Skin Packs”. These represent a group of skin items that form a fully fleshed-out character skin model. The availability is identical to individual skin items but paid packs are unsurprisingly pricier.

Adding skin packs outside of Marketplace

Some creators decide not to sell their products on the Marketplace. Others decide to showcase skin packs variations of Marketplace packs on external websites. In both cases, they make skin packs available in the form of .mcskin files. If that’s your situation, you can exchange a Minecraft skin by putting the .mcskin file here:

• Windows 10: C:/Users/[user account]/AppData/Packages/Microsoft.MinecraftUWP_8wekyb3d8bbwe/LocalState/games/com.mojang/skin_packs
• Android, iOS, iPadOS, Fire TV: Access the Minecraft installation folder on internal/external storage via the File Manager app. Create a skin_packs folder inside if one doesn’t exist.

Note. Some creators require you to place files into a development_skin_packs folder as well/instead of “skin_packs”, which you may have to create too. Also, this method only works on the platforms we listed.

3. Changing Minecraft skin via templates

Finally a treat for both Bedrock and Java Edition players. Templates are essentially 64×64 or 128×128 resolution PNG images that represent a 2D grid of a 3D character model. Essentially, the two steps below allow you to exchange the default one:

1. Acquire a 2D template

We used “acquire” as a blanket term. There are 4 main ways to get a Minecraft skin 2D template:

1. Edit a default template. You can download default templates (search for Mojang assets + steve.png or alex.png) and open them in photo editing software. Complicated and not beginner-friendly.
2. Apply one from an external website. Websites such as “https:/www.minecraftskins.com” (we have no affiliation) allow you to select a skin and click on Upload to Minecraft.net to shorten the next step.
3. Download one from an external website. After picking a skin on “https:/www.minecraftskins.com” click on Download or right-click – Save image as… under “Image Link”.
4. Create one in a 3D skin editor. The website above has a 3D Skin Editor (“https:/www.minecraftskins.com/skin-editor” that lets you create a 3D model and convert it to a downloadable 2D template.

How do I distinguish between templates?

You should know that Java Edition only supports 64×64 pixels templates, and only permits transparency on the outer layer (clothing, hats, arm wear, headwear). Bedrock Edition templates support a resolution of 128×128 pixels and allow transparency on both the first (the body itself) and second layers, although you cannot be fully transparent. Also, there’s a difference between Classic and Slim skins – the latter has slimmer arms.

2. Apply the Minecraft skin template

As mentioned, method 2 above is a way to reduce method 2 below. So, here’s how to change character skin in Minecraft depending on the game version:

Bedrock Edition (in-game)

Get to the Character creator menu as mentioned in method 1. Then, do the following:

1. Depending on the device, tap on Browse skin (Xbox), Choose New Skin (Pocket Edition), or Import (Desktop).
2. Select the PNG file wherever you downloaded it.
3. Click or tap on Open, then Confirm to apply the skin.

Bedrock Edition (website)

If you don’t want to bother with setting up skins across devices, there’s a one-fits-all solution. Follow these instructions to change Minecraft skin online:

1. Visit Minecraft.net and log in.
2. Click on Skin in the left sidebar.
3. Select which player model (Classic or Slim) your skin uses.
4. Scroll down to the Upload Custom Skin and click on Select a File.
5. Select the PNG file and then tap or click on Upload.

Java Edition

After launching the Minecraft Java Edition launcher, don’t press “Play”. Instead, do this:

1. Switch to the Skins tab in the top left corner.
2. Click the + New skin to the left of default skins under “Library”.
3. Click on the Browse button, select the PNG file, and click on Open.
4. Configure whether it’s a Classic or Slim model under “Player Model”.
5. Click on the Save & Use in the bottom right corner.

4. Change Minecraft skin locally (Java Edition only)

Using the methods above, you can only see the skin when you’re signed in to your Minecraft account and playing online. This is a problem when playing offline. However, you can fix it like this:

1. Open the Minecraft installation folder.
2. Search for: minecraft.jar (older Minecraft versions) or client.jar (newer Minecraft versions).
3. Open the .jar file via any archive software such as WinZip.
4. Search for the steve.png or alex.png files inside, then rename or delete the png file you want to switch.
5. Rename your custom skin to alex.png or steve.png, depending on gender, and copy-paste it there.
6. Exit the window, start the game, and the skin should work.

Note. If Minecraft redownloads the default skin, you must apply the skin by creating or downloading, then installing a Minecraft resource pack.