How to Make Glass in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Smelt sand or red sand in a furnace: one block of sand plus any fuel gives one block of glass. You can also buy 4 glass for 1 emerald from librarian villagers.

What you need

Sand or red sand (shovel recommended)
Furnace
Fuel: coal, charcoal, planks or a lava bucket
Silk Touch tool (to move placed glass)

Step by step

Gather sand with any shovel: deserts and beaches are the easiest sources. Red sand from badlands works exactly the same.
Craft a furnace from 8 cobblestone if you don't have one.
Smelt the sand: put sand in the top slot and any fuel (coal, charcoal, planks, lava bucket) in the bottom. Each sand block smelts into 1 glass.
Speed it up with a super smelter: a furnace array fed by hoppers turns a desert's worth of sand into stacks of glass automatically.
Alternative: trade with librarian villagers. After the Village & Pillage update they sell 4 glass for 1 emerald in both editions.
Remember: glass drops NOTHING when broken unless the tool has Silk Touch. Always carry a Silk Touch tool if you plan to reposition windows.

Java vs Bedrock

Smelting and trading work identically in Java and Bedrock. One quirk: glass has no assigned tool in Java, so every tool breaks it at the same speed. Both editions need Silk Touch for glass to drop itself.

Versions: Glass is one of the oldest blocks in the game: added in Java Classic 0.0.19a (June 2009), with furnace smelting of sand since Indev (February 2010). In Pocket Edition it existed from the earliest demos.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make glass in Minecraft?

Smelt sand or red sand in a furnace with any fuel: 1 sand = 1 glass. It takes 10 seconds per block in a regular furnace, half in a blast... no, a smoker does not smelt sand; use a normal furnace.

Why did my glass disappear when I broke it?

Glass only drops itself when mined with a Silk Touch-enchanted tool. With any normal tool it shatters and drops nothing, in both editions.

What can you craft with glass?

Glass panes (16 from 6 glass), glass bottles (3), stained glass (8 glass + 1 dye), beacons, daylight sensors, end crystals, tinted glass (with amethyst shards) and more.

Can you buy glass from villagers?

Yes: librarian villagers sell 4 glass for 1 emerald in both Java and Bedrock since the Village & Pillage trading revamp.