How to use your skin in Minecraft: Java Edition and Bedrock Edition

Step by step: upload the PNG in the Java Edition launcher's Skins tab, or import the skin pack or the PNG in Bedrock Edition's Dressing Room.

The skin leaves the phone as a 64 x 64 PNG, or as a skin pack for Bedrock holding both arm models. Save puts the file where you choose, Share sends it, and Open skin pack hands it to the game on the same phone. On an iPhone, Save PNG puts the skin in Photos, where the game's Choose new skin finds it. On this website both download as files.

Java Edition (computer)

Get the PNG onto the computer: Share PNG to yourself, or Save PNG and copy it over.
Open the Minecraft Launcher and choose Java Edition.
Open the Skins tab and choose New skin.
Pick Classic or Slim to match the file name, then Browse and choose the PNG.
Choose Save & Use.

Bedrock Edition (phone, tablet, Windows), with the skin pack

On a device with the game, tap Open skin pack, or open the saved .mcpack file.
The game imports the pack. In the Dressing Room, the skin is listed under the pack's name as Classic and Slim.
If it is not there, close the game completely and open it again. The game reads new skin packs when it starts, so a pack that arrives while it is running shows up at the next launch.
If custom skins are missing altogether, turn off "Only allow trusted skins" in the game's settings (Settings, General).

To close the game completely:

iPhone or iPad: swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen and pause in the middle. In the open apps, flick the game's card up and off the screen. Then open the game again.
Android: on the game's main screen, press Back and confirm that you want to exit. Or open the recent apps (swipe up from the bottom and hold, or the square button) and swipe the game's card away.

Bedrock Edition, with the PNG

In the game, open the Dressing Room and then Classic Skins.
Under Owned, choose Import, then Choose new skin, and pick the PNG.
Choose Classic or Slim to match the file name.

Consoles

Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch cannot import custom skins, neither the pack nor the PNG, and a skin imported on a phone does not carry over to a console. Wear it on a phone, tablet or Windows PC, or in Java Edition.

Two layers: taking the jacket off

Java: in Options, Skin Customization, turn off Jacket, Left Sleeve, Right Sleeve, Left Pants Leg and Right Pants Leg. Turn off Hat to take a raised hood down (it also hides glasses and headphones). Bedrock: the skin pack holds each model with and without the jacket; choose "Classic, no jacket" or "Slim, no jacket" in the Dressing Room, or import the PNG saved without the jacket.

Make a skin now, in your browser: five guided photos with the camera, or photos already taken. Nothing is uploaded. The Scan2Skin 3D app for iPhone and Android adds scan yourself, HD skins and Pro.

Make a skin About the phone app