How to Get Leather in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Kill cows, mooshrooms, horses, donkeys, mules or llamas: they drop 0-2 leather (up to 5 with Looting III). A cow farm is the best renewable source. You can also craft 4 rabbit hide into 1 leather, barter with piglins, or trade it from a fox.

What you need

Wheat (to lure and breed cows)
Sword with Looting III (more drops)
Fences and a lead for the pen
Rabbit hide (crafting option)

Step by step

Start a cow farm: lure 2+ cows with wheat into a pen and breed them. Each cow drops 0-2 leather, plus 0-1 extra per Looting level (up to 5 with Looting III).
Mooshrooms, horses, donkeys, mules and llamas drop the same 0-2 leather. Hoglins in the Nether drop 0-1 (up to 4 with Looting III).
Craft it: 4 rabbit hide combine into 1 leather.
Take it from foxes: a fox sometimes spawns holding leather and always drops it on death. Or drop a food item nearby: the fox swaps the leather for the food.
Other sources: fishing gives leather as junk (1% chance), piglins barter 2-4 leather (~8.53%) for a gold ingot, and leatherworker villagers buy 6 leather for 1 emerald if you want emeralds back.
What you need it for: books (1 leather each, for bookshelves and enchanting), item frames, and leather armor, the only armor you can dye.

Java vs Bedrock

In Java Edition, leatherworker villagers also throw leather at you while you have the Hero of the Village effect. Phantoms drop leather too. The 6-leather-for-1-emerald trade works in both editions since Village & Pillage.

Versions: The rabbit hide recipe was added in snapshot 14w27b (Java 1.8). Llamas drop leather since 1.11, phantoms since 1.13 and hoglins since 1.16.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to get leather?

A cow farm: breed cows with wheat and kill the adults with a Looting III sword for up to 5 leather each. In the Nether, hoglin farms in crimson forests also produce leather fast.

Can you get leather without killing cows?

Yes: craft 4 rabbit hide into leather, fish it up as junk (1%), barter with piglins (2-4 leather for gold), or make a fox drop it by offering food.

Which mobs drop leather?

Cows, mooshrooms, horses, donkeys, mules and llamas drop 0-2 (up to 5 with Looting III). Hoglins drop 0-1. Foxes can spawn holding leather and always drop it on death.

What is leather used for in Minecraft?

Books (needed for bookshelves and an enchanting setup), item frames, and leather armor, which is the only armor that can be dyed in any color.