How to Cure a Zombie Villager in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Trap a zombie villager out of the sun, hit it with a Splash Potion of Weakness, then right-click it with a regular Golden Apple. After 3-5 minutes it turns back into a villager with permanent trade discounts. Curing the same villager up to 5 times stacks the discounts toward 1-emerald trades.

What you need

Splash Potion of Weakness (fermented spider eye + water bottle + gunpowder)
Golden Apple (8 gold ingots + 1 apple)
A boat or a 2-block roofed trap
Optional: iron bars and a bed to speed it up

Step by step

Find a zombie villager: about 5% of natural zombie spawns. You can also make one by letting a zombie kill a villager - conversion is 0% on Easy, 50% on Normal, 100% on Hard.
Trap it immediately: push it into a boat, or wall it into a small roofed space so daylight cannot burn it and other mobs cannot interrupt the cure.
Brew a Splash Potion of Weakness: a Fermented Spider Eye (spider eye + brown mushroom + sugar) brewed into a Water Bottle, then add gunpowder. No blaze powder or Nether wart needed.
Throw the splash potion at the zombie villager - it must show the gray Weakness particles.
Right-click it with a regular Golden Apple (8 gold ingots around an apple, or found in structure chests). You hear a loud gong and red particles swirl.
Wait 3-5 minutes, keeping the area safe. Iron bars and a bed placed within a 9x9x9 cube around the villager speed the cure up.

Java vs Bedrock

Curing works the same on Java and Bedrock, including the 3-5 minute timer and the iron bars/bed speed-up. On Java, cured villagers give deep gossip-based discounts that stack when you cure the same villager again (up to 5 times) and spread to nearby villagers; Bedrock gives discounts too, but the stacking is per-villager only. A cured zombie nitwit stays a nitwit.

Versions: Curing has worked this way since 1.4 and is unchanged in current versions. Current as of 26.3.

Frequently asked questions

Why won't the zombie villager take the golden apple?

It must have the Weakness effect active when you right-click. Throw the splash potion first, confirm the gray swirls, then feed the apple within the effect's duration.

Do cured villagers keep their profession and trades?

Yes, and if you had traded with them before zombification their trades stay locked. Curing also applies permanent discounts - curing a librarian repeatedly is how players get 1-emerald Mending books.

Can you cure a zombie villager without a brewing stand?

The weakness must come from somewhere: a splash/lingering potion or an arrow of Weakness. Witches sometimes throw weakness in fights. There is no apple-only shortcut.