To cure a zombie villager, give it Weakness, then use a Golden Apple on it: it starts shaking, and 3 to 5 minutes later it is a villager again. In return, it trades with you at a permanent discount.
Everything below is Minecraft 26.3, from the Minecraft Wiki, with TheGamer and CraftMC giving the same steps.
What you need
- Weakness, from a Splash Potion of Weakness, a Lingering Potion of Weakness or an Arrow of Weakness.
- A Golden Apple: an apple surrounded by 8 gold ingots at a crafting table. The Enchanted Golden Apple doesn't work.
To brew the potion, put Water Bottles in a Brewing Stand fueled with Blaze Powder, add a Fermented Spider Eye (a spider eye, a brown mushroom and sugar), then Gunpowder to make it a splash potion. Every brew is in our Minecraft potions, and the Golden Apple and the Fermented Spider Eye in our Minecraft crafting recipes.
Step by step
- Trap the zombie villager under a roof: like any zombie, it burns in daylight. Keep iron golems away, since they attack it.
- Throw the potion at it, or shoot the arrow.
- While Weakness lasts, use the Golden Apple on it: it starts to shake.
- Wait 3 to 5 minutes in Java Edition, and stay close so the area stays loaded. Beds and iron bars nearby only speed it up slightly.
- If the villager has no profession, give it a job site block, then trade.
A name tag keeps a zombie villager from despawning while you get the potion and the apple ready.
